India vs Australia: Virat Kohli unfazed by stump mics, cameras

PERTH: Australian captain Tim Paine and his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli shared the sledging honours in the second Test and both seem to have enjoyed the exchanges.
Kohli refuted the notion that both teams were under scrutiny following the banter between him and Paine. “Not really. As long as there is no swearing out there on the field and there are no personal attacks, the line doesn’t get crossed.
“There is banter going on.Even at Adelaide there was banter here and there… it’s Test cricket at the end of the day, it has to be competitive. You can’t say that people aren’t going to try and get you out in any way possible at all.”
Whether he was conscious about the fact that the stump microphones were picking up every syllable that is uttered by players in the middle, Kohli said: “Honestly, when a bowler is bowling, he isn’t thinking whether the stump microphone or the camera is on or not. And when you are facing that ball, there is no one in the stadium apart from you and that ball.”
“So, these things are totally irrelevant, and you are actually not aware of them when you are on the field. It’s never bothered me, it’s never been something that’s of importance to me to be honest. For me it’s irrelevant,” he added.
On his chest bump with Kohli while completing a run in the middle, Paine said: “I don’t think we did touch, to be honest. It got pretty close. But it is what it is. It was a highly competitive Test match from both teams. There’s a lot on the line and when both teams desperately want to win, sometimes that stuff happens,” said Paine, adding that he doesn’t find Kohli’s antics annoying.
“I love it. I enjoy watching him, I always have. I think he brings out the competitive spirit in a lot of people, which is great, and I’m sure it was great to watch.”