"It used to annoy me" - Tim Paine on people asking him to avoid sledging Virat Kohli

Former Australian Test captain Tim Paine recently opened up on how people advised him not to sledge Virat Kohli, indicating that it brings the best out of the Indian batter. The former cricketer mentioned that he used to be annoyed by those suggestions and didn't believe that talking to a player made that much of a difference.

Paine pointed out that it didn't matter if Australia sledged Kohli or not, as the ex-Indian skipper was anyway very consistent with the bat. The 39-year-old stated that he would only try to break the ace batter's concentration.

Speaking to CricTracker, the veteran wicketkeeper said:

"People used to say, don't sledge Virat. If you don't sledge Virat... most of the time still get runs, so it doesn't really matter whether you're talking to him or not. I wouldn't try too much to fire up Virat, but I would try and distract him if I could because if you can get a bit of a distraction, he might play a bad shot or lose his concentration. But it used to annoy me when people say, oh, don't sledge him, because people don't get better because someone's talking to them."

India have dominated Australia in the last few editions of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The Men in Blue beat Australia 2-1 in the 2023 edition, winning the coveted trophy for the fourth time in a row.

Under the leadership of Virat Kohli, India scripted history in 2018-19 by becoming the first-ever Asian team to win a Test series in Australia. The Indian side followed it up with yet another Test win on the Australian side, beating the hosts 2-1 in 2020-21. Tim Paine was Australia's captain in both the series defeats.

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"He is the best batsman in the world" - When Tim Paine reserved high praise for Virat Kohli

While Virat Kohli and Tim Paine have been involved in heated exchanges on the field, the ex-Australian captain seems to have nothing but respect for the Indian batting star.

Paine reckoned that Kohli's competitiveness makes him a player that anyone would love to have in their team. Calling the 35-year-old the best batter in the world, here's what Paine said on the 'Gilly and Goss' podcast in 2021:

"For Virat Kohli, I've said many times, he seems like the type of player you would love to have on your team. He is competitive. He is the best batsman in the world. He is challenging to play against and he can get under your skin because he is so good and he is so competitive. But yeah, for me from where I came from, sharing a feud with him four years ago, he is certainly someone I will always remember."

Virat Kohli has an impressive record against Australia in Tests. The right-handed batter has amassed 2042 runs against the opposition in 25 matches at an average of 47.48.