Australia skipper Steve Smith opens up on sledging Virat Kohli's Team India

Sydney: Recalling the on-field incidents encountered against Team India during the Border-Gavaskar series earlier in 2017, Australia captain Steve Smith revealed he enjoyed getting under the skin of Indian players and annoying them a bit.

Bitter rivalries have eclipsed in the past between Australia and India, where cricketers of both nations have turned to sledging. However, Smith reveals he employed different tactics to provoke Virat Kohli’s men.

“I like to try and annoy them a little bit with some of my mannerisms rather than anything I say,” Smith was quoted saying by the Back Page Live panel show.

The Australia captain had a hilarious confrontation with India pacer Ishant Sharma during the second Test in Bengaluru, which was more of a buffoonery than sledging. After Ishant Sharma failed to sledge Steve Smith, the lanky speedster responded with some comical gestures. Steve Smith soon responded to Ishant by shaking his head sideways on his next delivery.

“I think I got under (the Indian team’s) skin on a few occasions, which was nice. It was a pretty heated series, playing over there in India,” the dashing right-hander said.

“But it was a great series. We probably should have gone a little bit better than we did. But hopefully, we can learn a lot from the way we played there and keep moving forward as a team,” Smith added.

Steve Smith and co handed a shock to Team India by clinching a comprehensive victory in the series opener in Pune. However, Kohli’s men bounced back with a win and a drawn in the 2nd and 3rd Test respectively before capping off the series 2-1 in the final Test in Dharamsala where Ajinkya Rahane led the Indian side in absence of injured Kohli.