Australia vs India quotes that matter: 'In my esteem, Dhoni has gone up by miles'

India lock horns with Australia in a four-match Test series in their own backyard. As always, it’s going to be a tough outing for the visitors. Australia play aggressive brand of cricket and as we have seen over the years, we might witness a hostile series fraught with sledging. Over the course of series, we will be keeping an ear out for what people say – from players and coaches to commentators, columnists, former players and fans. [caption id=“attachment_1839463” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File picture of Mitchell Johnson. Getty[/caption] We’ll update the list on a daily basis, so make sure you keep coming back for quotes that are sure to make you laugh or make you think (or both). January 2 “In my esteem, Dhoni has gone up by miles.” Shastri lauds Dhoni’s decision to retire and says his respect for the former Test captain had gone up by miles. December 31 “Now even PETA has said you can’t cosmetically remove the tail.” MS Dhoni’s answers in his own style after being asked by a reporter to compare both the team’s tail after the 3rd Test - The exact question was - “Their tail is like Hanuman’s. Yours is like a Doberman’s. That must be hurting your side?,” December 29 “Try and hit the stumps next time, not my body.” Virat Kohli annoyed after being hit on the body as Johnson tries to run him out on day three of the third Test. “That sums up the wicket. If I’m getting runs on it.” Ryan Harris on the MCG pitch after scoring 74 in the first innings of the third Test. December 28: “I’m a Shane Watson fan but I’ve become an extremely frustrated fan. I am pulling my hair out, just like everyone else. Former Australian captain Allan Border being extermely critical of Shane Watson’s inconsistent performance. December 26: “Yeah actually that was the case (on the fight). Virat used a knife. Then he stabbed Shikhar who just recovered out of that and then pushed him out to bat.” India captain MS Dhoni has mocks reports that Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan had a fight in the dressing room just before the start of play on day four of the Brisbane Test dismissing them as tales fit for movie scripts. December 24: “India’s biggest weakness is they don’t believe they can win away from home.” Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden on reason for India’s failures away from home. “The aim for us it’s not really sledging, it’s more banter.” David Warner describing his team’s mental battles with India as banter, not sledging December 22 “My Dad didn’t believe me, so that’s a little bit disappointing. I am a massive Australian cricket fan who just happens to play cricket himself.” Joe Burns on his father’s surprise and his own joy at getting a national call-up. December 21 “We were only able to give Virat 5-7 minutes to prepare and that created some unrest in the dressing room.” MS Dhoni on the unrest in the dressing room resulting from lack of communication over Shikhar Dhawan’s injury in the nets before the start of fourth day’s play of the second Test at The Gabba. “When an Aussie sledges it’s aggression but if an Indian sledges it’s unnecessary and foolish.” VVS Laxman on criticism of the Indian team over sledging on the third day of the second Test at The Gabba. December 20: “How many wickets have you got?” Rohit Sharma has a go at Mitchell Johnson as he comes out to bat during day three of the 2nd Test at the Gabba. Johnson went on to score 88 off 93 balls. December 19: Sanjay Manjrekar in full flow in the commentary box.

Manjrekar on Kohli's body language: This guy is either happy or angry @VishnuNDTV #genius

— Ashish Magotra (@clutchplay) December 18, 2014

December 18: “You can go close to perfection, but you can’t be 100% perfect in life” Murali Vijay after being asked about a couple of reprieves he received during his century in the first innings of the 2nd Test at the Gabba. December 14: “If I’m playing the peacemaker, you can imagine what was going on out there.” Virat Kohli on calming down the rising tensions between the Indian and Australian players on day four of the first Test at Adelaide. December 13 “They’re always going to come at you and come at you, and you have to try to bite your tongue a bit and sometimes you don’t.” David Warner admitting that he should have shown more restrain while replying to the send-off from Varun Aaron who cleaned him up with a no ball on day four of the first Test at Adelaide. December 12 “Looks like Aaron’s email or whatsapp message has reached the captain and finally the skipper knows that Aaron is on the field.” Harsha Bhogle in commentary after Indian skipper Virat Kohli brings on Varun Aaron after 31 overs on day four. December 11 “Michael, change of plan. Some Bodyline, son” Umpire Ian Gould warns Australian skipper Michael Clarke to be ready for some short stuff as Varun Aaron is changing his angle and coming around the wicket on day 1 of the first Test in Adelaide. 10 December Wasim Akram clearly not happy with India’s bowling performance on day two of the Adelaide Test and Aakash Chopra gives us this Akram gem on twitter. https://twitter.com/cricketaakash/status/542588159788199936 9 December “It is probably the best knock of my career. Hopefully, I can score some more hundreds later on but this is definitely going to stick with me for the rest of my life. Throughout the innings I had this gut feeling that my little mate (Hughes) was with me at the other end, all the time from ball one.” - An emotional David Warner after scoring his 10th Test century on day one of the Adelaide Test. 8 December “I’ve been bowling very aggressive and I’m not going to change that.” - Mitchell Johnson suggesting that Hughes tragedy won’t stop him from playing aggressive brand of cricket in the first Test at Adelaide. “It was too aggressive for me initially (on the last tour)… but after a few incidents I figured out there’s no other way of playing in Australia, so I’ll just be myself.” - Virat Kohli suggesting that being aggressive is the only way to succeed in Australia. 6 December “I’d love to see Mitchell Johnson run in and bowl a bouncer first ball of the Test match.” - Despite the Hughes tragedy, Ricky Ponting doesn’t want Australia to curb the aggressive brand of cricket that has brought them success over the years. “This time I will try to control my feelings, keep my emotions in check. That way I will be able to perform better rather than put pressure on myself through high expectations.” - After roller-coaster rides on previous Australian tours, Ishant Sharma doesn’t want any added pressure this time around. 18 November “I have no issues with saying I think it’ll be 4-0,” - Glenn McGrath predicting an Australian cleansweep against India. (More often than not, McGrath gets his predictions right!)