Tim Paine reveals Australia 'Love to Hate' Virat Kohli, shrugs off the Indian skipper

With the India-Australia series nearing closer, the heat between the two squads is already visible as Tim Paine has already shrugged off Men in Blue captain Virat Kohli as 'just another player'. The Australian Test skipper has remarked that he does not have a relationship with Kohli but they 'love to hate' him. Paine and Kohli will square off in the first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy in December after which the Indian skipper will return back for the birth of his child. 

“I get asked a log of questions about Virat Kohli, he’s just another player to me it doesn’t really bother me. There’s not really a relationship there with him to be fair, I see him at the toss and play against him and that’s about it,” Paine told ABC Sport.

“With Virat it is a funny one, we love to hate him but we also love to watch him bat as cricket fans. He certainly is polarising in that type of scenario. We love watching him bat, but we don’t like seeing him score too many runs," he added. 

Reflecting upon the rivalry between India and Australia and the on-pitch banter between the two in 2019, Paine remarked that its a 'heated competition' and he is a 'competitive person'. "There were a few occasions when we had words but that wasn’t because he was the captain and I was the captain, it could have been anyone," Paine said. 

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India tour of Australia 

India will kick off their tour to Australia with a three-match ODI series starting on Friday, 27 November, followed by as many T20Is and four Tests. The T20Is will be played in Canberra (4 December) and Sydney (6, 8 December). 

The first Test will be a day/night affair, from 17-21 December at the Adelaide Oval. The Melbourne Cricket Ground (26-30 December) will host the Boxing Day Test, before the action moves to the Sydney Cricket Ground (7-11 January) and the Gabba (15-19 January). With India currently on top of the World Test Championship table and Australia in second, the series is expected to be a thriller, as it will also be a part of the ICC World Test Championship. 

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Crowd to be allowed for Test series 

Confirming the presence of fans for the Test series during India's tour, Cricket Australia on Tuesday announced that 50 per cent of the stadium's capacity will be open to the crowd for the Adelaide Test, set to be played from December 17 onwards. The Test at Adelaide Oval, which will also be the first day-night Test between India and Australia, will feature nearly 27,000 spectators amid the COVID-19 crisis. The Tests series is also expected to be the first series to witness live crowd after the COVID outbreak, due to which all matches are being played behind closed doors. 

Meanwhile, the most significant Test of the year - the Boxing Day test - will open the stands to only 25 per cent of its total capacity, as sanctioned by the Victorian government. On the other hand, the fourth Test at Brisbane might witness up to 30,000 people with 75 per cent of the total capacity being open for the crowd.

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