Captains square off in verbal stoush

Tensions flared in a gripping opening hour of day two of the second Test, with rival skippers Steve Smith and Virat Kohli sharing a heated chat for several overs.

Smith and Kohli were at is as soon as the Australian came to the crease at the loss of vice-captain David Warner, and it didn’t take long for the two best batsmen in the world to start playing a few verbal shots.

The exchange started in the 22nd over when Ravi Ashwin was blocked by non-striker Matthew Renshaw from preventing Smith to get off the mark with a single down to long-on.

Ashwin and Kohli let their feelings known to the 20-year-old before Smith and the umpire Nigel Llong stepped in to cool the situation, until Kohli and Smith came together.

"Virat Kohli and Steve Smith are going at it. Between overs Virat was into Steve Smith. It looks like Smith is going back as well," said former captain Michael Clarke on Star Sports.

"It's the pressure here, it might be getting to both teams.

"Smith has made a lot of runs in the last 12 months ... I can't recall anybody getting under his skin or saying a word to him.”

Smith was more animated than a Pixar film during his first 26 balls at the crease, each leave followed by a vigorous swing of the bat towards the bowler and thunderous call of “no”.

It got to the point where fast bowler Ishant Sharma started mocking the visiting captain, to which Smith just replied with a wobble of the head.

“There’s constant chat there,” said former India captain Ravi Shastri in commentary. "Virat Kohli and Steve Smith. There’s plenty of banter going on there."

It’s not the first time the pair has come to verbal blows out in the middle.

Kohli was fined 30 per cent of his match fee for arguing with Smith after the Australian was given not out following an lbw appeal off part-timer Rohit Sharma during a Test at the Adelaide Oval in 2014.

Smith survived an lbw appeal by Kohli that remained with the on-field call of not out after ball tracking confirmed the ball was just clipping the top of leg stump.

Quick Single: Australians in Kohli's head, says Hayden

It sparked more words between Smith and Kohli, which continued as the two teams enjoyed a drink after an intense hour of action.

“I’ll tell you what we’re watching, we’re watching too sides under immense pressure and all these smiles there’s a fakeness to it,” Test great Matthew Hayden told on Star Sports.

“There’s a degree of uncertainty. It’s pressure cooker out there. The scoreboard barely moving 26 overs in and it’s game on.”

Smith fell 15 minutes before lunch, out edging a ball from left-arm spinner Ravindara Jadeja that ballooned to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.

His 52-ball innings yielded just eight runs in difficult batting conditions as Australia enter lunch at 2-87, trailing India by 102.

As Smith left the field he was farewelled with loud boos from the vocal home crowd, who cheered every confrontation between the two teams.

Test Squads

India (for first two Tests): Virat Kohli (c), Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravichandaran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Karun Nair, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Abhinav Mukund, Hardik Pandya.

Australia: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Stephen O'Keefe, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade

Australia's schedule in India

Feb 23-27, First Test, Pune

Mar 4-8, Second Test, Bengaluru

Mar 16-20, Third Test, Ranchi

Mar 25-29, Fourth Test, Dharamsala