Smith, Kohli square off in verbal stoush

Australia's reputation for sledging on the cricket field precedes them but captain Steve Smith has developed a very modern take on an ancient art.

Smith's many twitches and tics at the batting crease are well known, a batting fidget spinner albeit one so successful he leads the world Test batting rankings by a considerable margin.

The Australia captain had his fair share of run-ins during a "pretty heated" Border-Gavaskar series in India in March, and has now revealed it was an intentional ploy to "annoy" the opposition.

"I like to try and annoy them a little bit with some of my mannerisms rather than anything I say," Smith said on the Back Page Live panel show this week.

Smith had a famous confrontation with Ishant Sharma that was more slapstick than sledging during the Bangalore Test.

On the second morning, the Australia captain became engaged in an animated discussion with rival skipper Virat Kohli.

Quick Single: Captains square off in verbal stoush

But better was to come when India seamer Ishant Sharma reacted to a length ball that failed to bounce by pulling a series of neck-jerk faces.

Smith responded with a head wobble of his own and it was on.

"I think I got under (the Indian team's) skin on a few occasions, which was nice," Smith said.

After winning convincingly in the opening Test in Pune, the Australians lost in Bangalore and Dharamsala, with a hard-earned draw in Ranchi between those losses that saw India reclaim the trophy with a 2-1 series result.

"It was a pretty heated series, playing over there in India," Smith said.

"But it was a great series. We probably should have gone a little bit better than we did.

"But hopefully we can learn a lot from the way we played there and keep moving forward as a team."

The Australians defied many pre-series predictions to take the battle to the Indians on their home soil. Indeed, the Pune result was India's only defeat in a mammoth 11-Test home season that saw them beat New Zealand, England and Bangladesh.

Quick Single: Aussie quicks to open old wounds: Smith

Australia switched back to white-ball cricket after that series, with several players featuring in the Indian Premier League before the Champions Trophy campaign was all but washed out.

After an off-season break that has coincided with a break in the international schedule, the players have been training hard with an eye on Bangladesh, and the ongoing pay dispute.

"All the boys have been training and working incredibly hard and everyone's fit," Smith said.

"It's actually been a good little period for us … for the international guys we don't often get these kinds of breaks so it's nice to get some strength work in and some fitness in to try and sustain a level for a period of time now."

The Australian squad will assemble in Darwin on August 10 for a week-long training camp before they are due to fly to Bangladesh for a two-Test series.

That is scheduled to finish on September 8, with a five-match ODI and three-match T20I series in India expected to be confirmed to follow immediately after.

Dates and venues have not been confirmed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, but local media have reported Australia's schedule will run from September 17 until October 11.

The Aussies could then expect a short break before the Sheffield Shield season ahead of the first Ashes Test at the Gabba on November 23.