'Keep your cool, Virat': Skippers collide in furious moment

Tim Paine and Virat Kohli have wasted no time resuming hostilities in Perth, prompting a stern rebuke from umpire Chris Gaffaney.

Having engaged in a verbal battle late on day three of the second Test, Australia and India’s respective captains again squabbled during Monday’s morning session.

Kohli squared up to Paine while the Australian was completing a run and stump microphones picked up Gaffaney demanding the two behave themselves.

“That’s enough… play the game,” Gaffaney said.

“You boys are the captains. Play the game.”

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Paine defended himself.

“There’s no swearing,” he said.

But Gaffaney reminded skippers of their roles.

“You’re the captain, Tim,” Gaffaney responded.

Not finished there, the Aussie captain threw one final sledge at his rival.

“Keep your cool, Virat,” Paine said.

Cricket fans were loving the passion shown by the captains as the Test match was resting on a knife edge, with many praising Paine for standing his ground against the cricket superstar.

An increasingly fired-up Kohli pleaded his case to square-leg umpire Kumar Dharmasena as Paine and Usman Khawaja continued to extend Australia’s second-innings lead.

Former Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson revealed what Kohli was saying.

“Speaking to a couple of the boys, Virat was going to the umpire and telling the umpire that ‘Tim Paine is talking to me. Can you tell him to stop?’ That type of thing,” Johnson told Fox Cricket.

“Which I find quite interesting with what happened yesterday.”

Damien Fleming said it was a sign Kohli was “starting to lose it”.

Former Test captain Ricky Ponting said on Seven he had no issue with the exchanges, noting nothing aggressive or explicit had been detected.

Paine’s fighting knock was brought to an end on 37 when he gloved a rising Mohammed Shami delivery to Kohli to slip.

Kohli could hardly contain his joy as he gobbled up the catch, with Paine looking back at India’s celebrations as he walked from the field.

Tensions bubbled on day three when Kohli and teammates appealed vociferously for a caught-behind appeal in the final over, desperate to dismiss Paine.

Stump microphones pick up captains’ first battle

Stump microphones have picked up a heated exchange between Tim Paine and Virat Kohli late on day three of the second Test.

Having battled through the better part of eight days of intense Test cricket in relatively cordial fashion, the captains clashed verbally as tensions bubbled in Perth on Sunday.

Kohli and teammates went up vociferously for a caught-behind appeal in the final over, desperate to dismiss Paine.

It was turned down and India had no interest in reviewing but stump microphones picked up Kohli having a dig at his counterpart.

“If he messes it up, it’s 2-0,” Kohli said, referencing the series lead he is so determined to take at Optus Stadium.

Paine replied “you’ve got to bat first, big head”.

It was a reasonably tame exchange but things appeared to become more heated at the end of play, when Australia reached 4-132 to boast a 175-run lead.

Kohli and Paine continued to exchange words as they walked towards their respective dressing rooms.

“Tim just asked him where he was going for dinner,” Nathan Lyon laughed.

“I’ve played enough cricket against Virat to know what he’s like.

“Virat’s Virat.

“Virat Kohli is a great player. He plays on emotion.

“I’m not worried about what he’s doing or India’s doing.”

With AAP