Kohli opens up on Faulkner exchange

India superstar Virat Kohli has opened up on his "enjoyable" verbal exchange with Australian allrounder James Faulkner at the MCG.

India's No.3 said the Australians "do not cross the line" but "make it very challenging" when batting with their chat.

Kohli and Faulkner exchanged words in the 35th over of India's innings without tempers flaring. But stump microphones at the non-strikers end were turned up enough to allow viewers an insight into their on-field chat.

Kohli, on 72, was pinned down by a series of dot balls from Faulkner when the pair first swapped opinions. The Indian charged the next delivery before playing the ball away into the off-side for a single and the chat continued.

"You're wasting your energy, there's no point," Kohli is heard to say to Faulkner, who replies with: "Having fun are we?"

"I've smashed you enough in my life. No point. Just go and bowl," comes Kohli's reply.

Kohli finished with 117, becoming the fastest batsman to pass 7,000 one-day international runs in the process. But the Australians had the last laugh, again chasing down the Indian total for a three-nil lead in the Victoria Bitter One-Day International Series.

WATCH: Kohli blasts ODI ton No.24

Rubbing salt into Kohli's wounds, it was Faulkner who hit the winning runs.

"That's the kind of banter that keeps going on in the field. Well we all are pretty used to it by now," Kohli said in response to a fan question on the Indian cricket team's Facebook page.

"It's happening on a regular basis nowadays. Cricket has become really, really competitive and people will try and disrupt you in any way possible.

"The opposition has every right to use that as long as it doesn't cross the line. And you have every right to reply as long as it doesn't cross the line again.

"I think there have been a lot of smart comments over the years and mine turned out to be a perfectly timed one. I didn't intend to do that, I just said what came to mind, which was actually not far off the truth.

"That banter is enjoyable on the field but at the same time you need to focus on your game. That was a fun moment I guess."

In the three matches to date where Kohli has posted scores of 91, 59 and 117, just 34 of his 267 runs have come from Faulkner's bowling.

Faulkner had the right-hander caught on the long-on boundary in the first match to deny Kohli a century.

WATCH: Faulkner has Kohli caught in Perth

In 42 balls from the Tasmanian across the WACA Ground, Gabba and the MCG, Kohli has managed three boundaries, 16 singles and three 2s. He's also soaked up 20 dots.

"They (the Australian players) very well know what to say and when to say it and how to say it, so you have to be smart enough to tackle that and still focus on your game, which is a challenge I personally really enjoy," Kohli added.

"They will try and annoy you in every way possible, you know they are very competitive on the field, they like to talk a lot when you are playing against them, especially when they are fielding, so they make it very challenging.

"It's certainly something I feel is not bad for cricket as far as the competitive aspect of the game is concerned. No they do not cross the line."