While the Australia-India cricket contests are always expected to be highly competitive both with the bat and ball as well as verbal volleys, the current series hasn't seen the extent of sledging the two teams have been involved in during the past tours.
However, the current Border-Gavaskar trophy has thrown up some interesting verbal exchanges between players of both teams eyeing a psychological advantage over the other.
One such exchange occurred on day 2 of the ongoing Test Match at the MCG when the Australian captain Tim Paine was seen directing his words at India's vice-captain, Rohit Sharma.
Paine used the strategy and spoke to Aaron Finch who was fielding at the short leg, about the Indian Premier League (IPL) and his favourite IPL team, in order to distract Rohit who is the captain of Mumbai Indians. Their conversation was caught on the stump mic.
"It's a bit of a toss-up between the Royals and the (Mumbai) Indians for me. But if Rohit hits a six now, I am changing to Mumbai," Paine said to Finch.
When Rohit did not taking the bait, Paine kept the conversation going, and asked Finch if he had played for all the teams in the IPL.
Paine said: "You have played for every team now"
Finch replied: "Except Bangalore."
"Except Bangalore?" Paine asked.
According to the India Today, Finch admitted the conversation between him and Paine was a ploy to distract Rohit but he did not fall for it.
Rohit Sharma of India (right) bats on day two of the Boxing Day Test match between Australia and India at the MCG in Melbourne. Source: AAP Image/Julian Smith
Before the start of the game on Day 3, Rohit admitted to having heard Finch and Paine's conversation and joked about buying Tim Paine for Mumbai Indians if he scores hundred.
Rohit said, "I was hearing that, but when I'm batting I just focus on the job at hand. But I had a chat with Rahane and joked that if Paine gets a hundred here, I will put in a word about him to my boss at Mumbai Indians and we will buy him. Looks like he is a fan of Mumbai,"
Rohit Sharma played in the Adelaide Test but was unavailable during the Perth Test due to injury and he was back for the Boxing Day Test.
This is not the first time that players engaged in verbal banter. In the Perth Test, Indian captain Virat Kohli and Australian captain Tim Paine were seen exchanging a few words that made headlines.
However, both the captains played down the incident and said it was "all on the field".
