An English Test team may have never encountered the sort of hostility in a home fixture, like the one they were handed on final day of the Lord's Test against India.
The hosts were not just beaten but humiliated in their own backyard by a Virat Kohli side which was fuming after their bowlers had a banter while they went out to bat. Virat's reaction from the Lord's balcony was enough to send out a loud message of the things to come. Even KL Rahul's comments after the match proved how the team discussion would have been like during the change of innings. He said that as a team they are never shy to say a word or two if someone goes at one of our players and then the rest of the ten guys just get really pumped as well.
English batsmen faced the wrath from the word go. While the bowlers dictated terms, Virat was in the face every England batsman and left no chance to give it back. He may not have led with the bat, but his aggression definitely did the job for Team India.
England were taken a back and what followed was a collapse which will be remembered for generations to come. From Buttler to Robinson, Kohli made it a point to have a word with every batsman to follow and clearly got under their nerves.
India tamed the 3 Lions within 2 sessions to conquer the Lord's but what followed was an attack on Virat Kohli by the English media. The Indian skipper's love affair with the UK press goes back a long way. We have seen how the home team gangs up against any visiting team in England and Virat is no acceptation. While he was written off in the infamous Test series in 2014, four years later, the world knew what Virat could do in English conditions. His rivalry with English great James Anderson became the talking point of every Test. Though Kohli fell to the 39-year-old for a golden duck in the first Test, he grind it out in the second and showed hints of his class.
Despite tempers flaring up at Lord's and so much being said and written, England skipper played down animosity between the 2 teams. After the loss, Root said that Virat’s got his style and his way of doing things that’s probably contrasting naturally to the way Root plays his cricket. He added that there was no hatred between the two teams
A 151-run thrashing will spur the English team to stage a fight back but perhaps the United British Press should also stop grinding their axe against the biggest star of cricket's galaxy.