In the morning session on Sunday (July 3), Kohli wanted to tell Bairstow about his ‘play and miss’ game, but the England batsman did not take it lightly.
At one point the umpires had to intervene to calm the anger.
Asked about his discussion with Kohli about Bairstow’s 106 off 140 balls, he said, “No, it was literally nothing.
“We have been playing against each other for 10 years. This is a minor cleavage (having a good time, enjoying social activities). We are very competitive on the field and that’s it.
We are playing Test cricket and we are two rivals. It brings out the best in you. No matter what, you have to beat your team and that’s part of the game. “
After this argument Bairstow started to run and played several big shots at mid-off and took some to the mid-wicket boundary.
Asked at a press conference after the third day’s play, Kohli said, “Is he taking care of the bears?” Bairstow replied, “That’s a really good sentence.
“I’m sure we can have dinner. Don’t worry about it,” Bairstow said.
Bairstow’s century was the backbone of England’s 284 in reply to India’s 416 as the hosts were bowled out for 132 in the first innings. By the end of the third day’s play, India were 125 for three with a total lead of 257.
England are likely to get a challenging target in the fourth inning but Bairstow said, “Whatever we set, we will try to chase it.”
Johnny Bairstow and Virat Kohli
He also spoke about the challenge of facing India’s new-ball duo of Mohammad Shami and stand-in skipper Jaspreet Bumrah, who were able to bowl almost unchanged in the first 30 overs of the innings.
“He bowled very well. The ball was swinging and he was trying to regain speed. He’s trying to edit the area you can score. But you also have to take some risks.”
Asked if technological improvements have enhanced his extraordinary look, Bairstow replied, “No idea.”
