India vs Australia: ‘I know he’s (Kohli) your captain but you can’t seriously like him’ – Tim Paine sledges Vijay

The battle of words between Virat Kohli and Tim Paine has been a constant in the second Test between India and Australia with the umpires Chris Gaffaney and Kumar Dharmasena having to make the two skippers understand the importance of playing the game rather than getting into verbal duels on Monday.

The Australia skipper later had a conversation with Murali Vijay during the second innings. “Murali, I know he’s your captain but you can’t seriously like him as a bloke,” tweet quoted Paine as telling Murali Vijay about Virat Kohli.

The conversation started with Paine telling Kohli: “You’re the one that lost it yesterday, now you’re trying to be cool today.” Umpire Gaffaney interrupted and said: “That’s enough.” But Paine wasn’t done as he said: “We are allowed to talk.” Gaffaney said: “Play the game. You guys are the captains. Tim, you’re the captain.” But Paine added one last salvo and said: “Keep your cool, Virat.” Kohli responded with a smile.

This was during the 71st over of the second innings when Jasprit Bumrah was bowling for India. But that wasn’t the end of it as a couple of balls later, Kohli and Paine almost ended up chest bumping each other as the Australia skipper looked to complete a run.

Earlier, Australia were bowled out for 243. The hosts were going strong till lunch, but wickets started tumbling at regular intervals in the post-lunch session and thus the hosts could only manage to take a 286-run lead.

READ: Virat Kohli does the unthinkable, uses tea break to fine tune batting skills

Usman Khawaja (72) was the top scorer for Australia, while Skipper Tim Paine chipped in with 37.

Towards the end, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood forged a 36-run partnership in 38 balls for the last wicket to help their team post a challenging total. For India, Mohammad Shami was the most successful bowler, scalping six wickets while Jasprit Bumrah took three wickets.

(With agency inputs)