Maxwell mocks Kohli as banter continues

There was no end to the teasing and taunting between Indian and Australian cricketers with all-rounder Glenn Maxwell today mocking home captain Virat Kohli's shoulder injury in the ongoing third Test here.

Kohli's participation in the match had been thrown into jeopardy after he hurt his shoulder while fielding on Thursday.

The talismanic batsman was left clutching his right shoulder in pain after he dived while fielding at the mid-on area and later scans revealed that he had suffered a strain and missed fielding action for 400 minutes on day two.

But the Indian captain did come out today, only to be dismissed for 6 by Pat Cummins.
 

Maxwell, who had struck a brilliant hundred yesterday, was seen mocking Kohli's injury when he imitated the Indian skipper's action by clutching his right shoulder after his dive to save a boundary in the 81st over.

Indian opener Murali Vijay, who struck 82, played down the incident and said the hosts are focussed on the game.

"A lot of things are happening but we are really focused on the game. We have a match in hand, we have to go close to the target -- these are things running in our heads in the dressing room," Vijay said of the unwarranted gesture by Maxwell.

India were 360/6 at close on day three, trailing Australia by 91 runs. Reminding the Australians that they would have to bat again in the Test, Vijay hoped the visitors would take banter from the Indian side sportingly.

"All the players are aware of it. Whatever they are doing, we take it sportingly. There's going to be a second innings, so if they can take it that way, it would be great," he said.

Pujara had flicked through the mid-on off Cummins and Maxwell gave a fine chase at the deep, exactly in the same region where Kohli endured that awkward dive to injure his right shoulder in the post-lunch session of day one.

Maxwell's mocking of Kohli continued the hostilities which started with Smith's 'DRS Brain-fade' in the second Test in Bangalore.

The Australian skipper was caught seeking dressing room clues before taking a DRS call, evoking a sharp reaction from Kohli.

In fact, Kohli had stopped just short of labelling Smith a "cheat" and alleged that the visiting captain had looked up the dressing room repeatedly.

Smith, on his part, had called Kohli's assertions complete rubbish.