Virat Kohli was appealing manically on the fourth day: David Lloyd

England registered a stunning victory against India in the highly-anticipated first Test of the four-match series at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai by a massive 227 runs. The disciplined performance by the visiting team put them on the top and helped them take a lead of 1-0 in the marquee series. The victory was crucial for England as it enhanced their chances of making it to the final of the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship (WTC).

During the course of the game, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli managed to upset the former England cricketer and renowned commentator David Lloyd with his behaviour on Day 4 on the field. Virat, who is known for being aggressive and live wire on the cricket field, was found appealing to the umpires many times.

This didn’t go well with Lloyd as he reckoned that Kohli was appealing manically and accused the captain of trying to influence the umpires to make their decisions in the favour of the home team. While the commentators were of the view that Kohli was trying to lift the spirit of his side, the England veteran didn’t agree to the same.

“He was appealing manically on the fourth day and called for two shocking reviews in the middle session. The commentators said he was trying to lift his team. I reckon he was trying to influence the umpires,” Llyod wrote in his column for the DailyMail.

“We saw it after India had spent 190 overs in the field and now we’ve seen it with England. Opening the batting is as tough as it gets after you’ve been fielding that long in searing heat,” he added.

James Anderson and Jack Leach strike with the ball for England

The Day 5 of the highly-anticipated Test had begun with India reeling at 39/1 after losing their opening batsman Rohit Sharma the previous day. With a massive target of 420 runs to chase, Indian batsmen succumbed to the pressure on the last day as they lost their wickets one after the other.

Seamer James Anderson gave two major blows to the hosts at the start of the day by picking the wickets of an in-form Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane. Skipper Virat Kohli held his fort at one end but didn’t get enough support from other players as the wickets kept falling for India.

Thus, despite a sublime knock of 72 runs by Kohli, India lost the game by a massive 227 runs. Jack Leach and James Anderson were the pick of the bowlers for the visiting team with four and three wickets respectively.