‘Banter with Virat was just fun’

SMITH DESCRIBED THE BANGALORE TEST A “GREAT TEST MATCH” WHICH TESTED THE RESOLVE OF BATSMEN AND BOWLERS FROM BOTH THE SIDES

Australia skipper Steven Smith played down his heated exchange with Virat Kohli, after the two continued their acrimonious relationship on the fourth day of the second Test. “Me and Virat were having a little chat out there. There was not much in it, so it was bit of fun, a bit of banter. That is the kind of things happen in these matches. It is nice to occasionally get engaged in such conversations. It was only good fun,” he said after the match.

Smith refused to say Kohli lost his cool and insisted game’s spirit was kept intact.

“I am not sure, I think that is the question to ask them. As far as I am concerned the game was played in good spirit. You know, emotions sometimes get better of you , but I don’t think anyone crossed the line.

The Australia skipper described the Bangalore Test a “great Test match” which tested the resolve of batsmen and bowlers from both the sides.

R Ashwin’s 25th five-wicket haul and a cracked and uneven pitch propelled Virat Kohli-led India cricket team to a serieslevelling win.

“This afternoon didn’t go to plan,” said Smith. “Ashwin did what he has done so well. He’s over here for a very long time. He hit good areas and challenged our batters… We weren’t up for it today.”

Earlier, during the Indian second innings, Ajinkya Rahane (52) and Cheteshwar Pujara (92) shared a century stand to help the hosts post a challenging total.

“I think the partnership between Rahane and Pujara really hurt us,” said Smith about the duo who took the match away from the Aussies. “They played particularly well. And we weren’t up for it today. It was quite hard to play.”

The M Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch, which aided turn and had uneven bounce from Day 1 of the match, posed a lot of problems for batsmen from both sides. It was a gruelling Test of skill and patience and Smith admitted that.

“It was quite difficult to play with a bit up and down and cracks throughout the whole match,” said Smith.

“There was an amount of rough from the start. It was quite difficult, but then Test match cricket isn’t supposed to be easy so...”