There were reports suggesting that the Indian captain Virat Kohli had told Australian captain Tim Paine that he’s the best player in the world and Paine is just a stand-in skipper during the second Test in Perth.

However, the BCCI have released a statement saying that these claims were based on hearsay and the BCCI would like to bring into notice that no such words were spoken on the field by the Indian captain.

STATEMENT: BCCI rubbishes reports about Kohli-Paine banter. Full details here https://t.co/1wcGqV41iZ pic.twitter.com/YXiSJTqL6O

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 18, 2018

Australia captain Tim Paine on Tuesday played down the verbal showdowns with Virat Kohli during the second Test but insisted that he won’t sit back and be “walked all over” if faced with a similar situation in the remaining matches. India lost the second Test by 146 runs, allowing Australia to draw level in the four-match series. The third game is scheduled to start on December 26 in Melbourne.

The two skippers had quite a bit of banter in the middle, so much so that they almost made physical contact at one point. But Paine shrugged it off, saying that Australia will invite India for a beer in the change rooms as per their team tradition.

“I don’t think we did touch to be honest. It got pretty close. It was a highly competitive Test match from both teams. There’s a lot on the line and both teams desperately want to win and sometimes that stuff happens” Paine said in the post-match press conference.

“I love it. I enjoy watching Kohli, I always have. I think he brings out the competitive spirit in a lot of people which is great, and I’m sure it was great to watch,” added Paine.

(With inputs from PTI)

First Published: Dec 18, 2018 16:41 IST