Steve Smith has fired back at Virat Kohli, suggesting the Indian superstar's animated send-off at Adelaide Oval was just not cricket.
Kohli plucked a catch to dismiss Smith for 21 in what proved a turning point in the Australia Day Twenty20 clash, which Australia lost by 37 runs.
He celebrated the wicket wildly, gesturing in a fashion that seemingly told Smith he should have focused on batting instead of talking.
Smith was mic'd up and had been conducting a live interview with Nine Network commentators during the over.
"I don't think you need to do that kind of thing when someone gets out," Smith told Fox Sports.
"It's fine to have a little bit of banter when you're out in the field, but when someone's out I don't really think that's on.
"He gets pretty emotional out there, doesn't he?"
Kohli was involved in a handful of heated spats with Australia during India's Test tour in 2014-15, while he and James Faulkner have often swapped barbs on the field this month.
Offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin defended the conduct of India's form batsman.
"It's probably a personal battle between the two of them. I think both of them are very good competitors and know what they're doing, and don't go down without a fight," Ashwin said.
"It's good to have such competition on the field.
"Both of them are champion cricketers. It just adds a bit of spice to the game. I don't mind it at all."
Kohli escaped punishment but debutant Hardik Pandya received an official reprimand from match referee Jeff Crowe for his send-off of Chris Lynn.
The International Cricket Council noted in a statement that Pandya "celebrated excessively in close proximity to the dismissed batsman, which could have provoked an aggressive reaction".
Shane Watson described Kohli as a "very excitable dude" but refused to criticise him.
"He and Steve Smith have also got a really healthy rivalry as well. They're the most incredible batsmen in the world at the moment," Watson said.
Smith won't have a chance to renew the rivalry until the Twenty20 World Cup in March, with the skipper and vice-captain David Warner sitting out the remaining two T20 clashes in the ongoing series.
Meanwhile, the 26-year-old dismissed the notion his on-pitch interview with Nine had anything to do with the dismissal.
"It was on at the time but for me it was just a bad shot," Smith said.
"I tried to chip one over the top for two rather than trying to hit him for four or six.
"It was my fault and I've just got to be better next time."
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