Australia vs India 2018: Umpires Didn't Need to Get Involved in Virat Kohli - Tim Paine Verbal Spat, Feels Ricky Ponting

Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting believes that there was no need for the on-field umpire to intervene in the verbal spat between Indian National Cricket team captain Virat Kohli and his counterpart Tim Paine on Day Four of the second Test at Perth.

Meanwhile, Kohli and Paine squared up on day three and four during the Perth Test which earned a lot of criticisms. Ponting, however, stated that whatever happened on the field was light and quite funny.

“A lot of the banter we’ve heard since has been quite funny. I know the umpires got involved but they probably didn’t need to,” Ponting said to Cricket.com.au.

“It was a conversation, a bit of banter between the two captains and whatever we heard today has been pretty lighthearted and quite funny at times,” he added.

Ponting shared high praise for Nathan Lyon

Ricky Ponting was also full of praise for the right-arm spinner Nathon Lyon who returned with eight wickets to bag the man of the match award. Former Australian skipper admitted that Lyon had improved his bowling technique.

“He’s (Lyon) hardly had a bad series in a long period of time. His control is better, the ball is coming out of his hand perfectly, and he’s a lot smarter. It’s one thing to be able to think about it, another thing to be able to execute it and he’s doing both those things really well,” Ponting said.

“We know that when finger spinners come to Australia, whether they’re Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, whoever they are, they’ve all struggled here – but not Nathan Lyon. He loves the extra bounce he gets in Brisbane and the bounce he got last week in Adelaide. He’s bowled well here, he’s used the footmarks, his arm ball really well. His variations and his skills are absolutely spot on,” he added.