Watch: Umpires step in to stop the physical battle between Virat Kohli and Tim Paine

What's the Story?

Just when we thought that current India vs Australia series will be free from any controversies due to the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner, Virat Kohli and co. have heated things up at Perth.

The captains of both the teams engaged in a hilarious banter earlier in the day but things went to the next level when they both got physical on the ground.

Virat Kohli and Tim Paine are back at it!The two have locked horns again as tension builds on the 4th day of the 2nd Test.📺 Watch LIVE on #FoxCricket &📰 join our match centre: https://t.co/fLeuCrQjUF #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/MFZlzpoIt5

— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) December 17, 2018

In case you didn't know...

The fourth day of the second Test match between India and Australia is underway and Virat Kohli's men are 1-0 up in the four-match series. Australia have the upper hand currently in the match with the home team closing in on a 300 run lead in the 2nd innings.

The heart of the matter

Tim Paine and Usman Khawaja built a solid partnership for the fifth wicket to help the home side increase the pressure on India. Virat Kohli and co. had been trying different tactics to break their concentration since morning. We had seen Rishabh Pant constantly making use of his mouth from behind the stumps.

But, the matter got extreme when the Indian skipper Virat Kohli tried to come in the path of the Aussie captain Tim Paine while the latter was taking a single. Whether Virat's actions to interfere in Paine's way were intended or was just a coincidence is not known.

But given that Kohli came very close to the non-striker's end while fielding, one can assume that it was another aggressive tactic from the Indian skipper. The umpires then tried to calm the situation as the play resumed on day four.

What's Next?

Australia are at a better position than India now to win the Test after Paine and Khawaja's patient partnership. A big innings might be needed from Virat Kohli's to give India a chance to get an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.