Virat Kohli's love-hate relationship with the Australian crowd continued in Sydney on Sunday (January 5), as he taunted them with a reference to the infamous ball-tampering scandal.

In the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli has been at the receiving end of boos across different Australian stadiums. During the third day’s play at the SCG, the Indian stalwart responded to the jeers with a bold gesture of his own.

Kohli gestured emptying his pockets – a reference to the sandpapergate episode, which rocked Australian cricket in 2018.

Australia's Cameron Bancroft was caught on camera applying sandpaper to the red cherry to alter its shape during the Cape Town Test against South Africa.

The scandal saw Bancroft, as well as then-captain Steve Smith and his deputy, David Warner, receiving bans. While Smith and Warner were banned for 12 months, Bancroft was handed a nine-month ban.

Moreover, Smith and Warner were also barred from holding any leadership positions in the Australian teams. A few years later, however, Cricket Australia would go on to lift the leadership ban on Smith.

Kohli's gesture, incidentally, came right after Smith's dismissal in Australia’s second innings at the SCG.

Here’s the video:

During the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, Virat Kohli was involved in a shoulder-thud incident with debutant Sam Konstas, which drew him a lot of flak.

Kohli was relentlessly booed by the Aussie fans throughout the MCG Test, but he refused to be intimidated. Instead, he responded by asking the crowd to boo even louder, showing he was unfazed by their hostility.