Virat didn’t say he’s world’s best: BCCI

Perth, December 18

The Indian cricket board (BCCI) has rubbished media reports in Australia which claimed that Virat Kohli bragged about being the best batsman in the world while ridiculing Tim Paine during the Perth Test. 

Kohli himself said there was no swearing or personal attacks during his verbal duel with Paine. No line was crossed, he said.

Kohli and Paine had engaged in a never-ending war of words, which prompted umpire Chris Gaffaney to step in yesterday. “Well, it is definitely nothing compared to 2014, to be honest,” said Kohli referring to the 2014 Test series, when he was involved in heated exchanges with some Australian players. “As long as there is no swearing on the field, and there’s no personal attacks, the line doesn’t get crossed. That’s it!”

“But look, in competitive spirit it stays on the field,” he added. “I am not going to go into details but to be honest it’s not of importance for me to speak on and it’s something that’s done.”

Asked about his “behaviour” on being given out for 123 after a controversial catch in the first innings, Kohli shrugged off suggestions that he had expressed displeasure. “I don’t think I showed any displeasure at the dismissal at all. Appeal was made on call and that’s it,” he said. “It was done, Australia played better cricket than us and they deserved to win.”

“No boast, no belittling”

“It is ‘assumed’ that Kohli said ‘I am the best player in the world and you are just a stand-in captain’. 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,” BCCI said in a statement. — Agencies