The tense Tim Paine versus Virat Kohli narrative took an unexpected turn on Monday evening despite the Indian captain not being directly involved.

Following 24 hours of skirmish and lukewarm sledging between the skippers, Paine landed the knockout blow when he whispered to Murali Vijay “I know he (Kohli) is your captain, but you can’t seriously like him as a bloke?”.

Paine delivered his subtle sledge with a wry smile on his face following the dismissal of Kohli for 17 off 40 deliveries.

The cheeky encounter, which was picked up by Fox Sports’ stump microphones, brought a close to an intriguing day of Test cricket in which the opposing captains came toe to toe while the Aussie was batting.

The umpire had to step in as Paine told Kohli to “keep his cool.”

The spat has become a hot topic of conversation since Kohli and Paine had words late on day three in Perth.

Mitchell Johnson weighed in and was critical of Kohli, while former Indian opener Akash Chopra told SEN radio Australians slamming the star batsman’s attitude were like a “pot calling a kettle black”.

But the overall story stretches back to Cape Town and the subsequent cultural review, which sought to investigate the behaviour of the Australian men’s team.

Paine was appointed captain and promised to play “hard but fair” before the UAE tour. When Dr Simon Longstaff’s review was released in late October, so was a ‘Players’ Pact.

It read:

We recognise how lucky we are to play this great game.
We respect the game and its traditions.
We want to make all Australians proud.
Compete with us.
Smile with us.
Fight on with us.
Dream with us.

Throughout the series in the UAE and the home summer Paine has consistently referred back to the way he wants the Australian team to conduct itself and has remained calm on the field.

Kohli, who is notoriously hot-headed and often plays his best cricket when under fire, has attempted to push and prod the home team in Adelaide and even more so in Perth.

But on day four at least, Paine had the last laugh.