There was a definite edge to proceedings at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday. There was no shortage of verbal sparring on the field as Steve Smith and Matthew Renshaw frustrated India during an intense first session of play.
Both camps, though, later dismissed all the chat as good-humoured banter. Smith and Virat Kohli were at the heart of the action, the first words exchanged when India felt Renshaw had obstructed R. Ashwin in his follow-through. Some of the action even had the players and the crowd laughing, like when Ishant Sharma mocked Smith's fidgeting at the crease.
"There was a bit of talk but I think that's because they're trying to unnerve each other (Smith and Kohli)," Renshaw said later. "We took it pretty well. We know that they're trying to get under our skin because we've got 1-0 lead in the series. But it's all good fun; good contest out there. I was just trying to enjoy it and trying to laugh at what he was saying because some of it was quite funny."
What, then, had Kohli told the 20-year-old? "He was just saying that I might need to run off and go to the toilet again, like in Pune," Renshaw said. "It was quite funny."
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And how had he responded? "I don't try and say too much out there. I just try and smile because in my experience smiling seems to unnerve the bowlers a bit more than talking back."
Cheteshwar Pujara too sought to downplay the issue. "When we play the Australian team there is always some sledging involved," he said.
"So I don’t know what the exact words were but there were some moments when they were exchanging words. But all in all I think it was still in the spirit of the game. They were nothing personal and they were just having a chat."
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