AUSTRALIANS IN VIRAT DILEMMA
AUSTRALIA Test captain Tim Paine says his teammates have “polarising” opinions about India skipper Virat Kohli – they love to hate him as rivals but also enjoy watching him bat as fans.
Australia and India are set to clash in a four-Test series, with the opening day-night game in Adelaide starting on December 17.
“I get asked a lot of questions about him. He’s just another player to me, there’s not really a relationship there with him. I see him at the toss and play against him and that’s about it,” Paine told ABC Sport. “With Virat it is a funny one, we love to hate him but we also love to watch him bat as cricket fans. He certainly is polarising in that type of scenario. We love watching him bat, but we don’t like seeing him score too many runs.”
Tempers flared the last time the two sides met, with both skippers having a go at each other at every opportunity. The duo even had to be separated by the on-field umpires on a couple of occasions.
“Australia and India, it’s a heated competition and he’s obviously a competitive person and so am I. So yeah there were a few occasions when we had words but that wasn’t because he was the captain and I was the captain, it could have been anyone,” Paine said.
The wicket-keeper-batsman said it always was heated when the best players were out in the middle.
“There is always a bit more tension when a player is as good as he is. It’s the same when you play against England, it’s Joe Root or a Ben Stokes,” Paine said. “The intensity goes up when the best players in the world are at the crease.”
Last year, India had stunned Australia 2-1 to win their maiden Test series Down Under.
“I’m looking forward to everything, it’s a huge series. They beat us here last time obviously with a different team, and the rivalry between the two countries is building all the time…,” Paine said.
“Any time you get to test yourself against the best is something you look forward to as players and as a team, and we certainly are.”