Cricket has always been labelled as a gentleman's game. But over the years, the sport has been mere witness to explosive confrontations and ugly face-offs as part of sledging on the field. And, no one does it better than the Australians.

Similar to the other facets of the game, sledging is believed to be an integral part of Australia's hard-nosed cricket. The Oz brigade is known to be noisy and boisterous in their attempt to weaken the concentration of their opponents, forcing them to commit mistakes on the field.

Raising the temperature ahead of the first Test slated to begin from 23 February in Pune, Australian captain Steve Smith called on his players to "go for it" with the verbal volleys and on-field aggression if "it brings out the best in them."

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So when their warm-up match began against India A, the Aussies were right at it giving the opposition batsman Shreyas Iyer a dose of their sledging. The 22-year-old was targeted by Australia's wicketkeeper Matthew Wade and star batsman David Warner who didn't hesitate to fire verbal-volleys against him.

“They started to sledge and said ‘this guy does not have defence, he can play only attacking shots’. It was first Wade and then Warner too joined in. But I am used to this type of sledging, having toured Australia with India A teams in the past," Iyer said at the end of the day’s play.

But Australia's tactic eventually turned out to be their own nemesis. Aimed to weaken Iyer's concentration, Australia's sledging only motivated the Indian batsman who gave a befitting reply with his unbeaten knock of 85 runs at the end of second's day play.

Aussies tried sledging Shreyas Iyer and got hammered badly, are they still gonna repeat it with Virat Kohli??? #INDAvAUS

"Each of our individuals play the way they play. If that means people want to get into a battle verbally, if that gets the best out of them, then go for it. It's all about us making sure that as an individual, we're in the right mindset to go out and succeed.

If the guys want to get into those kind of battles, then go for it. But in the end, it's about us playing on skill, and making sure that our skills are in the best place for us to succeed in these conditions," Smith had said.

Shreyas Iyer slayed Aussies. Imagine Virat against them? Can't wait for the series.

But, former Oz cricketer Michael Hussey had advised Smith & Co. not to sledge the Indian batsmen, especially Captain Kohli, fearing that it might bring out the best in them. Hussey had specifically mentioned that riling Kohli could very well backfire on the Australians who should rather focus on a plan to dismiss him cheaply during the Test series.

Clearly, asking the Aussies to not sledge is like asking Manchester United coach Jose Mourinho to keep quiet after a game. But, it's a lesson Smith's team must learn quickly if they intend to challenge the in-form Kohli brigade in their own backyard.