Bad-tempered India, Australia Tests set for showdown

Dharmashala : India and Australia begin the finale of a bitterly fought Test series Saturday, with home skipper Virat Kohli keen to silence attacks that even Australia's ex-skipper Michael Clarke has warned are "getting out of control".

Kohli, who has been compared in the Australian press to US President Donald Trump, has had a series to forget so far after scoring only 46 in the first three Tests and injuring his shoulder in the process.

The 28-year-old, who scored a record-breaking four double centuries in the four previous series, has come under scrutiny both over his form and his conduct under pressure after his controversial outburst against his opposite number Steve Smith at the end of the second Test in Bangalore.

Smith, who was accused by Kohli of abusing the Decision Review System (DRS), had the last laugh by scoring a massive 178 in the third Test which ended in a draw Monday, leaving the series on a knife-edge at 1-1.

Despite clear-the-air talks before the Ranchi Test, more bad blood flowed during the match with India taking offence when Australia's Glenn Maxwell made fun of Kohli's injury by clutching his shoulder in mock agony.

Even the chief executive of the Australian cricket board, James Sutherland, has been stirring the pot by telling a radio interviewer that he didn't think Kohli "knows how to spell the word" sorry.

A defence of Kohli has come from an unlikely quarter, with Smith's predecessor Clarke slamming the sniping and saying: "This is getting out of control."

"I don't think Virat Kohli has done anything that Steve Smith wouldn't do or that I wouldn't have done as (Australian) captain," Clarke told the India Today television network

"I see the Australian in Virat Kohli. That toughness that he displays on the field, that was the way I was brought up by all the champions in the team that I came into."

Clarke also warned that a match-winning innings from Kohli could be just round the corner.

"He may come up with a big century and win India the series in Dharamsala," he said.