[Watch] "This isn't your backyard" - Virat Kohli and James Anderson engage in heated verbal exchange at Lord's
Indian skipper Virat Kohli and ace England pacer James Anderson were engaged in a particularly heated exchange during the Lord's Test. The former, while batting on 10, was heard on the stump mic calling out Anderson for running in the middle of the pitch and saying that it wasn't "his backyard".
Other fans heard Virat Kohli giving it back to James Anderson for allegedly swearing at pacer Jasprit Bumrah and even commenting on his age. The following is a video of one of the exchanges and some tweets from what fans heard from the live stream:
Virat Kohli and on-field exchanges aren't a new combination, but this is probably the first time something like that has happened with James Anderson in their years-long history of playing against each other. The pacer dismissed Kohli in the first Test but the Indian captain looked more than comfortable against him during his short stay here at Lord's.
Anderson was given a slight warning by the umpires during the match for running in the middle of the pitch. Moreover, Bumrah had bowled a rather fiery spell to him on Saturday studded with nasty bouncers and yorkers, which had led to a few on-field conversations between the players of the two teams.
But whether any of these incidents riled up Virat Kohli or not cannot be immediately ascertained.
Virat Kohli gets out for 20 after quarrel with James Anderson
Virat Kohli, despite looking at his near-best in the second innings, failed to convert his start once again and was out for 20 soon after the exchange. He hit four boundaries before chasing a wide one against Sam Curran, only to give an outside edge to the wicketkeeper.
The match is piquantly poised at Lunch, with India leading by 29 runs and Cheteshwar Pujara and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane standing at the crease. However, irrespective of the result of the game, the squabble between two of the most important players of their respective teams has set the stage for an enthralling Test series.