Virat Kohli’s on-field rivalry with Aussie counterpart Tim Paine gets tense

It’s been going on since the afternoon of Day 3 after Australia came out to bat in their second innings in Perth. The hosts secured a vital 43-run lead over India in the first innings and had the momentum of the game going in their favour. India though came back well after Australia put up a good opening partnership following which one of their openers – Aaron Finch – retired hurt, but Usman Khawaja paired up with captain Tim Paine to strengthen their team’s position in the game. They remained not out in the day and continued into lunch, adding 70 runs for the fifth wicket and taking Australia’s overall lead to 233 runs.

On Sunday, soon after India went for a big caught-and-bowl appeal against Paine in the final over of the day, the stump microphones caught Indian captain Virat Kohli uttering: “if he messes it up, it’s 2-0,” referring to India’s 1-0 lead in the series. To this, Paine promptly replied: “You’ve got to bat first, big head.” The two were seen exchanging words after the bails were withdrawn and on Monday, too, the rivalry continued.

Kohli stands in Paine’s way

It was in the 71st over of the Australian innings when Kohli almost stood on the way as Paine was trying to finish a run. The two didn’t touch each other but the body language of Kohli said it all. Paine tried to look the other way but there was no doubt that the heat is just turning high. One of the commentators said the Indian captain was trying to get into Paine’s head to distract him since wickets were not coming.

Ace commentator and analyst Harsha Bhogle said India needed to be careful not to try other ideas to make an impact on the game. He said Kohli himself enjoys such situations where he gets charged up by confrontations and gets out his best but it might not suit others in the team.

The umpire Chris Gaffaney was also seen talking to both the captains and tried to remind them that they were the ones leading the team and should rather focus on playing the game.

Here is the video of Virat Kohli trying to intimidate Tim Paine:

Virat Kohli and Tim Paine are back at it!

The two have locked horns again as tension builds on the 4th day of the 2nd Test.

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