‘You couldn’t possibly like him?’: Paine's all-time Kohli sledge

Aussie skipper Tim Paine has delivered one of the all-time great sledges to complete his running on-field battle with his counterpart Virat Kohli.

After a series of sledging battles between the pair, and even an on-field collision on the fourth day in Perth, the war reached boiling point as Paine took a massive crack at the Indian captain.

Following the dismissal of Kohli for 17 runs off the bowling of Lyon, Paine whispered a sledge to Kohli’s teammate from his position at wicket-keeper which was picked up by the Fox Sports stump microphones.

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“I know he (Kohli) is your captain, but you can’t seriously like him as a bloke?” Paine asked.

Moments later the sledge had gone viral, with many fans finding the humour in the brutal sledge.

When the moment arrived for Virat Kohli to do something special in Perth, who better to deny the Indian superstar than Nathan Lyon?

Lyon bolstered his case for being Australia’s most important player when he dismissed Kohli after tea on day four to snuff out India’s hopes of winning the second Test.

The offspinner’s seventh career dismissal of Kohli – two more than any other bowler in Test cricket – couldn’t have come at a better time.

Having survived an initial examination from Australia’s quicks on a spicy pitch, Kohli had loomed as India’s best hope of chasing an imposing target of 287.

The Indian skipper’s century in the first innings confirmed his status as the world’s best batsman and his fiery exchanges with Tim Paine emphasised his determination to lead India to a historic Test series victory in Australia.

But Lyon needed just four overs on Monday to get his man, luring Kohli’s edge with a delivery which held its line and was snaffled by Usman Khawaja at first slip.

Lyon then had opener Murali Vijay (20) chopping onto his stumps to reduce India to 4-55.

Former teammate and Australian assistant coach Brad Haddin said he had never seen Lyon bowl better.

“His mindset has changed a heap over the past 12 months,” Haddin said on the Seven Network.

“He feels like, no matter where the game is at, he can win the game for us.”

Lyon’s five-wicket haul in the first innings – his seventh against India in Tests – earned him praise from Indian great Sachin Tendulkar.

“Australia have got a very special spinner in @NathLyon421,” Tendulkar posted on Twitter.

“He has got terrific variations and uses the pace and bounce from the pitch to extract maximum value.”

With AAP