“Shut up, just stand and bat” - When Virat Kohli sledged Jonny Bairstow in a rather nasty manner

Virat Kohli 2.0 is known as a calm and composed cricketer, who goes about his job in a rather chilled-out manner. But until a couple of years back, he was cricket's version of the angry young man, who was more than willing to pick up a verbal battle on the field.

The former India captain sledged England batter Jonny Bairstow in a rather nasty matter during the rescheduled Test in Birmingham in 2022 on Day 3 of the contest. England were on the back foot in the game as India had dominated the opening two days, with the hosts trailing by over 300 runs.

During the first session of play on Day 3, Kohli tried to get under Bairstow’s skin by sledging him. The Indian fielder approached the England batter and was caught telling him on the stump mic:

“Shut up, just stand and bat.”

That’s not all. Kohli was even seen making a finger-on-the-lips gesture towards Bairstow and pointing fingers at him in a rather rude manner.

The England batter was not happy with the noise and the on-field umpires had to intervene to calm down the situation. The star Indian cricketer tried to sledge Bairstow on Day 2 as well using New Zealand bowler Tim Southee’s name.

Kohli’s verbal volleys, however, backfired as Bairstow opened up with the bat after the altercation and ended up hammering 106 off 140 balls with the aid of 14 fours and two sixes. Thanks to his counter-attacking hundred, England finished on 284, responding to India’s first-innings total of 416.

England’s bowlers then did an excellent job, restricting India to 245 in their second innings as only Cheteshwar Pujara (66) and Rishabh Pant (57) scored half-centuries. For the hosts, Ben Stokes starred with 4/33.

Virat Kohli exchanged some words with Jonny Bairstow during the rescheduled Test in Birmingham. (Pic: Getty Images)

Despite the brilliant fightback, England still needed 378 to win the Test match. They got there in a rather emphatic fashion as Bairstow (114* off 145) and Joe Root (142* off 173) came up with excellent hundreds. The duo added an unbroken 269 for the fourth wicket as England romped home to a seven-wicket win.

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Virat Kohli could miss the last three Tests against England: Reports

Kohli did not feature in the first two Test matches of the ongoing home series against England citing personal reasons. According to reports, he might not feature in the remaining three Tests as well.

According to ESPNcricinfo, the 35-year-old is set to miss the third and fourth Tests in Rajkot and Ranchi, respectively. There are also doubts over his availability for the fifth and final Test of the series in Dharmasala, which begins on March 7.