When Virat Kohli gave it back to Stuart Broad for sledging Rishabh Pant
Team India got a new capped player when they played their recent Test at Trent Bridge, England. Leading the Test series 2-0, the rampant England side aimed to pocket yet another win. India bounced back in the series by winning the match by 203 runs.
Rishabh Pant became the 291st player to represent India in Test cricket, and even if his second ball in Test cricket was historical and record breaking, his performance with the bat in the second innings had to soon come to an end.
Rishabh Pant is one of the rare few players to hit his first ever Test match run by hitting the ball for a six. He opened his scoring account in Test matches by hitting the second ball of his career for a six. Not only that, where most of the Indian senior players were struggling to perform in the English conditions, he also performed decently in the first innings. And he is just 20 years old! Test cricket future looks good for India.
But his second innings had to come to an abrupt end. On the sixth ball he faced in the second innings, Stuart Broad sent him packing for just one run. While Pant was seen cursing his poor shot selection which led to the dismissal, Stuart Broad had other plans to worsen his day.
While walking back to the pavilion, Stuart Broad was seen mouthing some harsh words to the young debutant, and while he chose to ignore it, it caught the eye of the massive cricketing world and Twitteratis bashed him for the same. It also included some past players and legends.
Now, the Indian Captain, Virat Kohli, is not someone who would forget such a thing. And we all know how much he loves to give back what he receives, whether love or hate, especially the hatred. And that's what he did.
When Team India were cruising to a victory over England, the first in the series, and the batting order of England had almost collapsed, it was Stuart Broad's turn to hit the pitch, but this time with the bat. And suddenly, the close-in fielders turned hawkish.
There were banters on every delivery Broad faced by the slip fielders, and the other outfield close-in ones. Initially, Broad took it in his stride, but soon was seen complaining to Kohli about Team India being 'too aggressive' towards him.
On him saying this, Virat diligently replied from the slips, "This is what happens when you have a go at a young player."
Here's a video about the same:
At the end of the day, Broad was anyway going to be thrashed for it, be it from Team India's 'aggression' or the International Cricket Council. He was fined 15% of his match fee for breaking the conduct regulated by the ICC. This fine was as per the Revised ICC Code of Conduct, that was launched back in September, 2016.
You don't mess with a team with Virat Kohli in it, and especially when he is the captain!