The rivalry between India and Australia on the cricket field has always been quite bitter but star batsman Virat Kohli believes that the behaviour of the players has gotten better with time thanks to the Indian Premier League (IPL). In a recent conversation with South Africa legend and his former Royal Challengers Bangalore teammate AB De Villiers, Kohli said that the competitiveness is still quite there between the two sides but the sledging is not ‘nasty’ thanks to the time that the players have spent with each other as part of various IPL teams.

“The IPL has changed quite a few things. The cricket is still competitive but the verbals and the sledging is not nasty anymore. It has become a game of mutual respect and admiration. Still, you can say that they have the same hunger,” Kohli said in the podcast with his ex-RCB teammate.

“The stuff which was too intense and things that created tension between the teams has significantly gone down, that’s what I have experienced this year but not the competitiveness.”

Tensions were high during the recently concluded Test series between the two teams but Kohli made it clear that the rivalry will strictly be restricted to the cricket field.

“I think it is a nice thing forward, it is progressive and if the tensions rise in tournaments like World Cups, you see that anyway. So, I think it is nice to have the camaraderie within the players,” he said.

“It is fun to be competitive and not with nastiness,” the star batter concluded.