India vs England: Virat Kohli displays amazing sportsmanship after Joe Root falls off with cramps

The first day of the first Test match between India and England concluded with a wicket for India. But, that wasn’t of the England captain Joe Root, who stayed unbeaten for 128. Dominic Sibley, who batted for 286 balls eventually got out in the last over of the day’s play, for 87. While the two were batting in their long partnership, the heat in Chennai was getting the better of the two players. 

At one point time, Root flew down with cramps and what followed was a wonderful gesture from his Indian counterpart. As Root’s innings went along, the right-handed batsman who had been battling the hot and humid conditions in Chennai, started suffering from cramps. After hitting a six off Ravichandran Ashwin, the batsmen fell down with cramps. 

At this moment, Indian captain Virat Kohli was standing in the slips, came to him and asked if he needed some help. After a brief chat between the two, we saw Kohli holding Root’s leg up to help him relax a little. He was helping the batter to get through the cramps. In the post day press conference, the English skipper made a point to praise Kohli for his gesture. 

The official Twitter account of BCCI uploaded the video. They used a caption, “#SpiritOfCricket at its very best.” Kohli has been known for his gestures on the field towards many cricketers and this incident just adds to that list. The video started making circles on the internet instantly and everyone lauded Kohli’s gesture. 

Here is the clip of the incident

#SpiritOfCricket at its very best 😊😊#INDvENG @Paytm | @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/vaEdH29VXo

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 5, 2021

Sibley, Root put England on top

England won the toss and elected to bat first on a very flat looking wicket at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. The innings started with a good opening partnership between Rory Burns and Dominic Sibley. But, Burns got out trying to reverse sweep one ball from Ravichandran Ashwin. In a couple of overs, Jasprit Bumrah got rid of Dan Lawrence for a duck. 

After this, it was a pretty flat day for India. The duo of Joe Root and Dom Sibley got together for a partnership of 200 runs. Bumrah’s searing yorker got rid of Sibley as the day was called off after that. England ended the day at 263 for 3.