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Captains trade verbals at Perth Test

Tim Paine and Virat Kohli exchanged pleasantries late on the third day in Perth as tensions rose between Australia and India

Having battled through the better part of eight days of intense Test cricket in relatively cordial fashion, captains Virat Kohli and Tim Paine traded verbal barbs as tensions bubbled in Perth late on the third day.

Kohli and teammates went up vociferously for a caught-behind appeal in the final over on day three of the second Domain Test, desperate to dismiss Paine.

It was turned down and India had no interest in reviewing but stump microphones picked up Kohli having a dig at his counterpart.

"If he messes it up, it's 2-0," Kohli said, referencing the series lead he is so determined to take at Perth Stadium.

Paine promptly replied: "You've got to bat first, big head".

Battered and bruised in a brilliant Test

A fired-up Kohli rode the highs and lows emotively while encouraging Indian teammates and fans in equal measure; passionately gesturing, appealing and celebrating. 

At one point he waved to the Indian supporters in the crowd, gesturing them to make more noise as the gripping battle between the combatants continued. 

Former Australia batsman Mike Hussey was one who was rubbed up the wrong way by the Indian captain.

"Kohli is out of control ... I don't like his attitude at the moment," Hussey said on Macquarie Sports Radio.

Former captain Allan Border remarked on Fox Cricket: "I don't think I've ever seen any captain carry on like that."

Kohli stands ground amid catch drama

By comparison, Kohli's exchange with Paine was tame and mildly amusing, and the captains again spoke to each other after stumps, swapping thumbs up as they headed to their respective dressing rooms with Australia 4-132 and boasting a 175-run lead.

"Tim just asked him where he was going for dinner," Nathan Lyon laughed.

"I've played enough cricket against Virat to know what he's like.

"Virat is Virat. Virat Kohli is a great player. He plays on emotion.

"I'm not worried about what he's doing or India's doing."

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: First Test, Adelaide Oval, India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Second Test, Perth Stadium

Dec 26-30: Third Test, MCG

Jan 3-7: Fourth Test, SCG

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c, wk), Josh Hazlewood (vc), Mitch Marsh (vc), Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Peter Siddle, Mitchell Starc, Chris Tremain

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant (wk), Parthiv Patel (wk), Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar