Sledging — Go for it, says Smith

MUMBAI: Australian captain Steve Smith raised the temperature Tuesday ahead of the first Test against India, calling on his players to “go for it” with the verbal volleys and on-field aggression.

India-Australia series are notoriously feisty affairs — the 2008 contest Down Under was almost called off following the infamous “Monkeygate” incident as animosity between the old foes threatened to boil over.

There was then further bad blood during India’s Test and one-day series in Australia prior to the 2015 World Cup when heated on-field exchanges led to several players being penalised. But the day after his team landed, Smith urged his players to do whatever it takes for Australia to win their first Test match in India since 2004 when the sides clash on February 23 in Pune.

“I think each of our individuals play the way they play and if they want to get into a battle verbally then, if that gets the best out of them, go for it,” he told reporters in Mumbai. “It’s all about us making sure that as individuals we’re in the right mindset to go out and succeed and if guys want to get in those kind of battles then go for it.

“But in the end it’s about us playing on skill and making sure that our skills are in the best place for us to succeed in these conditions,” added the 27-year-old.

India, on a high after defeating Bangladesh this week to go 20 Test matches undefeated at home, on Tuesday named an unchanged squad for the first two Australia Tests from the one that beat their neighbours by 208 runs in Hyderabad. Bangalore, Ranchi and Dharamsala will host the other matches in the four-Test series in March. INDIA SQUAD: Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya