When Virat Kohli is playing in a BCCI-led production in India, the camera focusses on him incessantly, the commentators talk about him all the time, and the photographs that the board gives the media access to have more than their share of shots of the Indian skipper.
But this was England and the commentary, on the first day of the Edgbaston Test, was coming straight from the Sky Sports studios. It meant two things – balance and serenity; two things that marked out the first two sessions of the game too.
Like many times before, Kohli found a way to make the first day of the Test match a very interesting one. India decided to drop Cheteshwar Pujara in favour of KL Rahul (or was it Shikhar Dhawan?) and picked just one spinner on a track that gave more than enough assistance to R Ashwin.
But it was discussed and, then, the game moved on. After England won the toss and opted to bat, Kohli got Ashwin on as early as the seventh over of the innings. The off-spinner delivered the wicket of Alastair Cook with a peach of a delivery: the set-up was classy and the final delivery that got him was the kind that off-spinners dream about.
Good start by hosts
The hosts, though, continued to build steadily. By the time lunch came along, England were 83/1 (after 28 overs) and looking very comfortable. Keaton Jennings (who was dropped on nine) and Joe Root had batted with a fair degree of ease.
The second session saw more of the same – India got the wickets of Jennings and David Malan but Root and Jonny Bairstow came together to put on an aggressive partnership. In the post-lunch session, England scored 80 runs for the loss of two wickets in 26 overs.
The partnership was aggressive, no doubt, but they were also completely in charge. There was no risk involved. The runs were flowing at a fair clip, India’s bowlers were starting to look a bit flat and the conversation was all about what kind of total England should be targeting in the first innings.
But then Kohli took over the conversation with an inspirational moment in the field.
England were well-placed at 216/3. After tea, they had added 53 runs in 8.2 overs and it looked like one of those matches where Root would finally convert a fifty into a century. That was when a strange madness descended on Edgbaston.
Bairstow played the ball to midwicket for a single but then decided that he needed to covert one into two. He called Root to come for the second but Kohli, at full tilt, was chasing the ball down. The Indian skipper picked the ball up with his back to the stumps and without even having the opportunity to see where the sticks were, he threw the ball back towards the bowler’s end in one motion.
He was off-balance, the ball bounced twice before it hit the stumps and Root was comfortably out of his crease, run out for 80 off 156 balls. Kohli’s intent had once again done the trick. That also brought an end to a fourth-wicket stand worth 104.
As if that wasn’t enough, Kohli rubbed salt into England’s wound with his celebration. He blew two kisses, high-fived a teammate, raised a finger to his lips asking the crowd to shut up, mocked Root for his mic-drop celebration and told him to go back to the pavilion in less than complimentary language.
Floodgates open
The Root wicket seemed to open the floodgates. From that point on, England lost wickets wickets with stupefying regularity. Bairstow didn’t make amends for that poor call and fell after hitting a fine 70.
The solid England middle-order didn’t come to the party either as England collapsed from 216/3 to 283/9. They ended the day on 285/9 – a far cry from where they were expected to be. It just goes to prove what Kohli said in the pre-game press conference: “It’s all in the mind.”
You don’t actually know what a good score is until both sides have batted but poor application has seen England surrender a position of great strength to India. If Kohli’s men can keep their heads in the game, they will have more than a good chance of making a winning start to the series.
