‘Pant banwa diya’- Virender Sehwag cheekily blames Virat Kohli for Jonny Bairstow’s aggressive batting

The India- England fifth Test is going on at full tilt with both teams giving their best for Test supremacy. England started off very well and sent India’s half-batting lineup packing at just 98. A sensational Rishabh Pant and a resolute Ravindra Jadeja got India on top after remarkable centuries. The newly appointed India captain Jasprit Bumrah then wreaked havoc on English batters with Mohammad Shami and Mohammad Siraj alongside him.

It was still however not over for England as an in-form Jonny Bairstow walked in to bat. The right-hand batter is the backbone of England’s new brand of cricket called the “Bazball” under Brandon McCullum (Baz). Under this approach, England play an entertaining and high-intensity Test match. First employed in the England- New Zealand series, England won all three Test matches with this style of play. They often surpassed New Zealand’s target in half the number of overs it took the Kiwis.

Having lost five wickets at just 83 runs chasing a huge total of 416, it looked like England would rest their new approach for another day, until Virat Kohli had a spat with Jonny Bairstow.

The ex-Indian batter Virender Sehwag was quick to point out this in a tweet that read, “Jonny Bairstow’s Strike Rate before Kohli’s Sledging- 21, Post Sledging- 150”. He added, “Pujara ki tarah khel rahe they, Kohli ne Pant banwa diya bewajah sledge karke (He was playing like Pujara, Kohli changed him into Pant by sledging).”

Notably, Jonny Bairstow was batting at 12 runs off of 47 balls at the end of Day 2. When Day 3 started, Virat Kohli and Bairstow has a little spat after which the English batter changed his gears and started playing aggressively. Currently, he’s batting at 102 off of 130 balls having hit fours and two sixes.

Bairstow has been in a rich vein of form as of late. In his last Test matches he has a scorecard of 8 &  136, 162 & 71* and 105*.