JOIN USIndia may have put behind the sledging episode behind in the first two Tests as can be evidenced by MS Dhoni’s statements but his Australian counterpart, or for that matter his team-mates, aren’t leaving any opportunity to take a jibe at the visitors.
After Mitchell Johnson and David Warner pointed out how Indians paid the price for being aggressive, it was their captain’s turn to take a dig at Dhoni and company.
"Not really, it's kind of up to each individual,” said Steven Smith when asked if they have lined-up any sledging plans in the Boxing Day Test. “Blokes like Davey (David Warner) like to say a fair bit. Everyone's different.
I don't really say too much. At the moment the Indians are doing that themselves (referring to the alleged spat between Virat Kohli-Shikhar Dhawan). Among their group, they're doing a lot of whingeing and complaining among themselves.
They're doing it all for us. Hopefully that can hinder them this week,” he elaborated.
Smith continued on Indians’ whingeing. "For us it's just about going out there and doing the same thing all the time.
If they want to get on with that in the dressing room - that's up to them. We'll just keep doing the same thing we've been doing and hopefully we'll get some of the same results.”
The Indian skipper MS Dhoni sought to downplay the issue. “There haven’t been any formal complaints from our side so far so I feel a bit of chirping is good on the field till the time players are not crossing their boundaries irrespective of which side they represent whether it’s Australia or India as that is what makes cricket really interesting.
As long as guidelines are followed I am not really bothered,” he offered. So far in the series, three Indians (Kohli, Varun Aaron and Ishant Sharma) have been fined while Warner from the Australian side was censored by the match referee.
Talking about the third Test, Smith said the hosts weren’t going to take anything lightly despite the 2-0 lead. "Four-nil would be nice, but you got to take each game as it comes. They're (Indian players) all very good in their own rights... Virat Kohli is a big wicket ... They're all dangerous. We don't take any of them lightly at all,” he said.
DH News Service