Now, it’s Dhoni versus Ponting

First, there was the face-off between Sreesanth and Andrew Symonds in Kochi, then Harbhajan Singh had a go at the Aussie team for the “ungentlemanly” behaviour. Today, the heat between India and Australia flared up again with the two rival skippers running into each other on the field.

Ricky Ponting, coming into the match after an injury lay-off, and MS Dhoni had promised the match-referee this morning that their teams would stay clear of each other. But Ponting couldn’t resist having a few words with Dhoni after the Indian skipper walked in to bat with India in dire straits. And Dhoni retaliated by walking up to umpire Steve Bucknor and making his displeasure clear.

“He did say something really harsh. That is why I had to go and talk to the umpire,” said Dhoni after the game, while refusing to reveal what Ponting had said. “I didn’t like what he said,” Dhoni added.

But otherwise, it was Ponting’s day as every move he made on the field paid off. Sample this: He brought in left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson in place of Brett Lee to get rid of Yuvraj, knowing India’s star bat was susceptible to that line of bowling. “It was an excellent delivery, one that had an angle to it and right on the spot,” said Ponting.