Virat Kohli, standing in as captain for Jasprit Bumrah, engaged in banter with the SCG crowd, gesturing he had no sandpaper on him during Australia's run-chase on the third morning of the fifth Test.
India set Australia 162 runs to win the fifth and final Test of the series. They started poorly with the ball, leaking 35 runs in the first three overs before Sam Konstas gifted India a wicket by slogging wildly across the line.
Prasidh Krishna then got rid of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith in quick succession, using his height to generate extra bounce as both batters were caught at gully. Australia slipped to 58-3 as the Indian fielders and the Indian contingent of the crowd found their voice.
Kohli, standing at slip, was then seen gesturing towards the SCG crowd that he had nothing in his pockets or inside his pants, in a reference to the infamous sandpaper incident where Australia were caught tampering with the ball in 2018.
Kohli turned his pockets inside out to show that they were empty, before stretching the waistband of his pants to show that he had nothing inside either in a reference to Cameron Bancroft's act of hiding a piece of sandpaper in his underwear.
Sanjay Manjrekar, on air at that time, commented how this could have been an attempt by Kohli to "pick a fight" to get in the game, especially given he is not scoring heavily at the moment.
Australia went into lunch at 71-3, needing another 91 runs for victory.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
