Perth: Australian coach Justin Langer says he quite liked India’s aggressive yet not-crossing-the-line approach in the second Test and insisted that the heated exchanges between Virat Kohli and Tim Paine were humorous not abusive.
India skipper Kohli and his Australian counterpart Paine clashed on the field a few times and exchanged a lot of words, with physical contact almost becoming a reality at one point. However, Langer said that he enjoyed the confrontation.
“I thought it was brilliant. As the two captains and they’re trying to stamp their authority on the game and I don’t think at any point there was any abuse or any real aggression to it,” Langer told Fox Cricket.
“In fact there was a bit of humour and there’s been a lot of talk about banter. There’s got to be some in a Test match. It’s a great part of the game, and there was actually a bit of humour, a bit of Aussie humour as well.
“That’s what we pride ourselves on — we’ve got a bad reputation in a lot of ways, but when there’s a bit of humour in it I thought it was a good exchange,” he said.
Langer said he was happy that his team could stand its ground against an aggressive India during the Test.
“...It was quite emotional at the end of day three to be honest because I felt India had been really aggressive. I love it and that’s what Test cricket is really about,” he said.
