The temperature on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test is expected to soar to 39 degrees, but tensions between the Indian and Australian media seem to have already hit boiling point.

After Virat Kohli’s disagreement with a Channel 7 reporter at Melbourne Airport last Thursday, a fresh controversy erupted at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Saturday during Ravindra Jadeja’s press conference following the team’s practice session. The interaction, organised primarily for the travelling Indian media, saw only Hindi questions being asked, with Jadeja responding in the same language. While neither the player nor the Indian media team had any issue with taking questions in English, the reporters present chose to ask only in Hindi.