“Do not sledge Virat Kohli” - Australian experts were in the ears of their players when Team India was scheduled to tour down under. Eventually the sledging part wasn’t much required as Virat was hardly a part of that series apart from the first game.
Now the talk around was that India missed an opportunity (going by the form and by what they achieved in Australia) to go 1-0 up in the series against England after the rain washed out the final day of the first match at Nottingham. Some even said that India was saved by rain, and as much as it was a possibility, we can surely term it as Englishmen’s humour!
‘You take risks, you get rewards.’ This has been the motto of Virat Kohli in the whites ever since he first captained India in 2014. Thus, it wasn’t much surprising that this team would be taking those tough calls required to win a test match. But what transpired in those 5 days and especially on the final day at the Home of Cricket was breathtaking in its own way.
More often than not, a Test match between two top sides now-a-days is a roller-costar ride; from a day to the next and even from a session to another. Both KL Rahul and Joe Root put themselves on the Honours Board, and as good a hundred it was from Rahul, Joe’s was a special one for the manner in which he played against a fiery Indian quatret and almost doubled it up only for his side to leave him stranded.
But this was where things began to spice up. In a general sense, both Jimmy Anderson and Jasprit Bumrah seem to be the guys that go on about their business in a calm and focused manner but a bouncer barrage from Bumrah didn’t go pretty well with the wily old Anderson. For a fact, it isn’t about being old or young, but Jimmy Anderson has always hated facing a bouncer right from the beginning of his career.
In the after-math of the match, Ravi Ashwin on his You Tube channel cleared the air talking to India’s fielding coach R Shridhar. He said "The thing was, Jimmy was like, ‘Hey mate! Why are you bowling so fast? Am I doing the same to you?’ ‘All this while, you were bowling in 80 m/h; suddenly on seeing me, why are you bowling in 90 m/h?’,’’
Now this seemed surprising to Ravi Ashwin and it may definitely seem surprising to most of us, but have a look at the excerpts from the book written by the man himself.
Source: ‘Bowl. Sleep. Repeat’ by Jimmy Anderson
Jimmy Anderson in his book ‘Bowl. Sleep. Repeat.’, mentions about his displeasure regarding a bowler bowling him a bouncer. As per his notion, there is an unsaid rule that a bowler must not bowl a bouncer to his counter-part and should instead dish him fuller-length balls. Now Virat on the crease said ‘Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!’, but rather Anderson was all about ‘Crib! Crib! Crib!’ after that saga.
Source: Cricfit
Even though the match kept swinging from each other’s grasp every single day, this was the particular incident that put England on the backfoot in the game. On the back of a brilliant 100 run partnership by the two prolific Test players of the Indian Team, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, India made sure that they were the ones who were going to set the game for a brilliant final day finish.
As Day 5 began, Rishabh Pant was once again at the helm of the talks, but as in Australia, this Indian Team was all about the surprises they could dish and the miracles they could script. A ninth wicket partnership from Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah not only gave India a great chance of victory, but it left the opposition captain wondering with thoughts and regrets in the middle of the ground.
Source: Bdnews24.com
The manner in which Virat Kohli declared the innings tells us more about the way this Indian Team takes on the challenge. He is the captain who has been backing his pace bowlers right from the day he began leading the team in the whites and currently the awe regarding the Indian pace attack is right out there for everyone to hear.
India fought as a unit in the whole Test and more-so-ever on the final day. The Anderson-Bumrah saga had lit a stronger flame in the beliefs of the Indians on the field and the ever-so-aggressive captain led from front in the middle, giving it back to Jimmy and his boys.
In the words of KL Rahul, “That’s what you expect with two competitive teams – great skills, and a few words as well. We don’t mind some banter. You go after one of our guys and all 11 of us will come right back.”
Well, this statement should remind the world that it now isn’t only about sledging Virat. If you want to try it on any other player, you are more than welcome to face the consequences! Well may be ask Mohammed Siraj! He doesn’t even need an invitation to give it back!
Source: Circle of Cricket
