Paine 'relishing' combative Kohli

Australia captain Tim Paine said Monday he is relishing his sometimes heated battle with animated Indian counterpart Virat Kohli, and promised "intense, hard" cricket in Melbourne's Boxing Day Test.

The pair had some testy exchanges in the second Test at Perth, with the on-field umpire interjecting at one point, a move that former captain Ricky Ponting said was unnecessary.

And Kohli offered only a frosty handshake at the end of the game, which Australia won to level the Domain Test Series 1-1, in a move blasted by some as disrespectful.

But Paine said he appreciated that Kohli never liked to lose.

"A lot was made of my battle with Virat in the second Test, and for the past few years when I haven't been playing international cricket, he was one guy I loved watching," Paine wrote in a News Ltd column.

"Now to be out in the middle going head-to-head with him in a Test series is something I'm really relishing."

Paine said he was not annoyed "in the slightest" by Kohli looking straight past him at the handshake.

"Virat is someone who is prepared to wear his heart on his sleeve and like all professional athletes, hates to lose," he wrote.

"I like the way Virat plays. I don't know him personally but I've always admired – not only his obvious skill as a player – but the passion and aggression he plays with. People like to see that and he gets fans through the gates."

Image Id: 6DAC644BFF8F40D196EB7A3C2810278C Image Caption: Paine and Kohli shake after Perth Test // Getty

Kohli's antics in Perth, where he also failed to acknowledge the crowd's applause after he was controversially given out in the first innings for 123, has been the subject of intense scrutiny in Indian media, with the country's influential Bollywood figures wading in.

But coach Ravi Shastri hit back on Sunday, calling Kohli "an absolute gentleman".

The combative coach snapped back at his critics, including former skipper Sunil Gavaskar who said India's recent history of "selection blunders" would put Shastri and Kohli in the firing line if Australia went on to win the series.

"When you're millions of miles away it's very easy to fire blanks," Shastri told reporters.

"They're too far away. We're in the southern hemisphere."

The world's No.1 ranked Test team claimed solitary victories in England and South Africa this year but lost both series and will be desperate to avoid a repeat of that outcome in Australia.

"Third time lucky. That's all I'll say," Shastri quipped.

"It's not often that you find a team these days when they travel overseas where it's 1-1 in a series with two matches to go.

"So the boys know what they can do, what they're capable of and the potential that lies ahead."

Paine said he liked to play in a similar way to the Indian superstar but was not as outward in his emotions.

"We all play at this level because we love the contest and his combative style and the way he backs himself is how he gets up," he added.

"My mantra as Australian captain is you have to be yourself. I know I lead and perform better when I stay calm under pressure."

With the four-match series tied, the stakes are high for the third Test starting Wednesday, and Paine said he expected India to come out firing: "I think day one in particular is going to be really intense, 'hard' cricket."

Domain Test Series v India

Dec 6-10: India won by 31 runs

Dec 14-18: Australia won by 146 runs

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, Archie Schiller

India squad: Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, 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