ECB's ‘ridiculous’ emoji tweet on Virat Kohli infuriates fans, draws wrath on Twitter after England beat India
ECB used nothing but an emoji in the caption to describe two photos - one was Kohli directing Bairstow to shush with the globally accepted finger on lips gesture and the other one was the former India captain hugging the England batter after the hosts had beaten India by 7 wickets in the fifth Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
It's amazing how an emoji can express a lot of things that thousands of words would otherwise perhaps have failed to do it. It's even more fascinating to know how many different interpretations can be drawn by a different set of people, of course depending on which side of the coin one is in, from the same emoji. Take England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) recent tweet on Virat Kohli and Jonny Bairstow for example. ECB used nothing but an emoji in the caption to describe two photos - one was Kohli directing Bairstow to shush with the globally accepted finger on lips gesture and the other one was the former India captain hugging the England batter after the hosts had beaten India by 7 wickets in the fifth Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
If there was anything (read emoji) that could have described Kohli's sledging episode with Bairstow on Day 3 it has to be the zip-on-mouth face ECB used as their caption. But were they just trying to describe the events or trying to take a sly dig at Kohli? Bairstow, after all, had had the last laugh with centuries in both innings and England had drawn level in the five-match series after being played for the large part of the first three days of the final rescheduled Test. Judging by the comment section of the ECB tweet, the majority of the Indian fans certainly thought it was the latter.
How ECB's emoji tweet on Virat Kohli irked Indian fans. Here are some of the reactions
Kohli and Bairstow were involved in an altercation twice - the first one towards the end of Day 2 when India were in complete control and Kohli reminded Bairstow of Indian bowlers' pace in his own way. The second time, on Day 4, was much more intense as it also draw a much-animated reaction from the England right-hander. On both occasions, it appeared that it was Kohli who fired the first shot. Bairstow answered with the bat - so would suggest the scorecard and England fans. He smashed 106 in the first innings and then backed that up with an unbeaten 114 as England knocked off India's 378-run target to achieve their highest-ever run chase with relative ease.
