Jimmy Neesham's Tweet on Bairstow amid latter's face-off with Kohli takes centre stage

New Zealand allrounder Jimmy Neesham took to his official Twitter handle to put out a message lauding English batter Jonny Bairstow for his gritty century on Sunday, at the Edgbaston Test. Bairstow was England’s top scorer in the 2nd Innings on Day 3 of the ongoing 5th Test between England and India, at the Edgbaston Stadium. He hit 106 runs in 140 balls, while the home squad scored 284 runs at the loss of all wickets, in reply to India’s 416/10 in the 1st innings. 

Meanwhile, in his tweet about Bairstow, Neesham waded into the English batter’s verbal spat with former India skipper Virat Kohli, which took place earlier in the day.

“Why do opposing teams keep making Jonny Bairstow angry lol, he gets 10x better. Give him a gift basket each morning, and let him know you’re having his car valeted while he’s batting. Anything to keep him happy,” Neesham tweeted. During England’s 1st batting innings on Day 3, Kohli and Bairstow were spotted having a heated argument.

Kohli was understood to be unhappy with Bairstow after the latter said something to him that reportedly provoked him. Although Bairstow attempted to pacify things, the 33-year-old didn’t hold back his words. “Shut up. Just stand and bat," he was heard saying in the stumps mic. The umpires Aleen Dar and Richard Kettleborough then intervened to calm things down between both players.

Virat Kohli silently lauds Jonny Bairstow's century

Hours later, Bairstow went on to score his hundred as Kohli was spotted silently lauding the cricketer following the sledging event. However, as India pacer Mohammed Shami dismissed Bairstow in the 55th over, reducing England to 241/7, Kohli celebrated the wicket in a unique fashion with a flying kiss while turning to his right. England managed to add 43 runs to their first innings total following Bairstow’s dismissal, before getting all out. Mohammed Siraj emerged as India’s highest wicket-taker with four wickets to his credit.

Day 3 of ENG vs IND 5th Test overview

Riding on Cheteshwar Pujara’s 50 off 139 balls and Rishabh Pant’s 30 runs in 46 balls, India closed the rain-hit third day at 125/3 in the 3rd innings of the Edgbaston Test. Earlier, Shubman Gill returned after scoring only four runs, while Hanuma Vihari managed 11 runs. Having scored 11 runs in the 1st innings, Kohli yet again struggled and returned to the pavilion after scoring 20 runs in 40 balls.

(Image: AP/@AbhayThakur981/Twitter)