Former Test wicketkeeper Ian Healy says he's "losing respect" for India captain Virat Kohli, and believes his confrontational attitude is heaping pressure on his teammates.

The two skippers stood eye-to-eye and exchanged words during a gripping first session, as Australia fought and scrapped a first-innings lead in the face of some challenging Indian bowling and a tricky M. Chinnaswamy pitch, reports cricket.com.au.

Both Matt Renshaw and Cheteshwar Pujara played down suggestions after play that things had gotten out of hand in the middle, but Healy insisted Kohli disrespected Australia and he should tone down his trademark on-field aggression.

"The pressure is starting to tell on (Kohli)," the 119-Test veteran told Melbourne radio station SEN.

"I'm losing respect for him. He's not only now continuing his disrespect of the Australian players and umpires, but I think he's putting pressure on his own players now.

"I think there's massive cracks showing in (Kohli). He's got to be a lot more respectful of his opponents.

"The stuff he did with Steve Smith was unacceptable."

But former Australia batsman Simon Katich suggested both Kohli and his counterpart Steve Smith handled a tense second day of a vital Test with aplomb.