Rohit Sharma: 'Aggressive' India and Australia have to draw a line in between

Rohit Sharma, the Indian vice-captain, has responded to the assertion made by the Smith and said that felt Australia's intentions would be clear only once the series got underway on Sunday

Rohit Sharma. Pic/PTI

After arriving in India for the limited-overs series, Australia skipper Steve Smith had expressed hope that the five-match ODI series beginning Sunday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium will be played in good spirit.

"I think it'll be played in good spirit," Smith had said in his press conference on Sunday "It's always a hard-fought contest playing against India and we're excited by the challenge of playing over here,' he added.

And now Rohit Sharma, the Indian vice-captain, has responded to the assertion made by the Smith and said that felt Australia's intentions would be clear only once the series got underway on Sunday.

'We have to wait and see once the tournament starts. But we have to play in the spirit of the game. We all are aggressive in nature, both the teams. But having said we all keep in mind that the spirit of the game is always there,' said Rohit during the press conference on Friday.

'There needs to be a line which has to be drawn, every now and then. We all know as professional cricketers that we don't need to cross our limits. We have to always be in our space.'

'We all want to play aggressive cricket but that's what India-Australia battle is all about. We always come at each other very hard. And that's how this series is going to be played. But having said, there will be a parameter which we all know doesn't need to be crossed,' he added.

Both the nations have a past of bitter verbal battles which have been at the higher levels in the recent past.

Australia have returned to India for the first time since their fiery and controversial Border-Gavaskar series earlier this year, which India won 2-1 and which ended with the home side's skipper Virat Kohli declaring some of his friendships with the Australian players had been irreparably damaged.

Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.

India squad (first three matches): Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.

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