It was a terrific day of Test cricket at Edgbaston, one that ebbed and flowed, but as is often the case, one moment overshadowed the rest: The send-off Virat Kohli gave Joe Root.
England dominated the first two sessions, with Root putting on partnerships of 72 and 104 with Keaton Jennings and Johnny Bairstow respectively.
Root closed in on a century, Bairstow notched up his half-century, and it was smooth sailing for England when, shortly into the final session, Kohli changed the flow of the game.
Bairstow pushed one into space towards mid-wicket and looked for a quick two, but Kohli chased, slid, gathered and threw, all in one motion, to effect a direct hit at the non-striker’s end with Root diving in vain.
As Root walked back, in evident disappointment at failing yet again to covert a fifty to three figures, Kohli celebrated with typical animation.
That said, Kohli was a fair distance from the stump mics and the on-field umpires, and with little concrete evidence, it is unclear how Crowe can hand down a disciplinary charge to the Indian captain.
Kohli won’t mind either way, perhaps. His moment of magic changed the day. From 216-3, England slid to 285-9 by stumps, with Ravichandran Ashwin returning 4-60.
Kohli, and India, will take that.
