Kohli no longer friends with Aussie players

Australia captain Steve Smith has successfully defended his number-one position and is now 61 points ahead of his New Zealand opposite number, Kane Williamson, who has moved up two places to second following his 176 in the Hamilton Test.

“I think that was a great call on Jinks’ and Anil bhai’s part”.

VIRAT Kohli says he no longer counts Australian cricketers as his friends in a fiery postscript to the Border-Gavaskar series.

Smith’s side, however, won the series opener in Pune before losing from a strong position in Bangalore and eking out a draw in Ranchi to set up a winner-takes-all decider in Dharamsala.

Smith sidestepped the spat yesterday as he concentrated on his upcoming captaincy of IPL side Rising Pune Supergiant. The game is bigger than any individual duel, however emotive it has been.

Meanwhile, former Australian cricketer Brad Hodge has apologised for suggesting Kohli was saving himself for the “cash-rich” Twenty20 cricket.

When Smith last toured India in 2013, he played in only the last two Test matches and scored 92 runs at Mohali.

Kohli is facing a race against time to be ready for the start of the tournament as he continues his rehabilitation from the shoulder injury that forced him to miss the fourth and final test against Australia. “Unbelievable, the kind of fitness and desire the fast bowlers have shown, it has been game-changing”, Kohli added.

Rahane performed the duties in his own quiet way, a contrast to the usually animated Kohli on the field. “A batsman can’t go out and score hundreds and double hundreds in every match”, he said.

No matter where you looked throughout the four-Test bonanza, controversy flowed.

TV footage caught Smith fuming angrily in the dressing room and appearing to say that Vijay was a “f****** cheat”.

Allegations and counter-allegations have flown thick and fast in the recently concluded India-Australia series.

Labelling Kohli an “egomaniac”, a headline in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph read, “Virat Kohli had to shake hands and move on after series win but he acted like a child”.

Those wickets all fell with Australia still in deficit, and all but decided the course of the entire series.

When asked about his future plans and whether this league will help him to prepare for the Champions Trophy, Rahane said he right now he is not thinking about Champions trophy because he is focusing to give his best in IPL.

An ensuing war of words, as both captains stood their ground, required the cricket boards of India and Australia to intervene but even a clear-the-air meeting between the skippers failed to smooth things over.