BCCI 'rubbishes' Kohli sledging claim

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The BCCI have refuted reports claiming India captain Virat Kohli had denigrated his rival skipper Tim Paine during the second Domain Test at Perth Stadium.

It had been reported by some Australian media outlets Kohli had made a comment to Paine about his status as Australia captain during play on the fourth day.

However, the BCCI have defended their skipper in a media statement posted on Tuesday night.

"There are reports doing the rounds in the media and across social media platforms claiming India Captain Virat Kohli got involved in a banter with Australia Captain Tim Paine during the 2nd Test at Perth," the statement on the BCCI website read.

"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.

"The BCCI got a clarification from the team management about the incident and would like to classify the reports as baseless."

Stump microphones picked up plenty of banter between the opposing captains during play on the fourth day, with the two skippers coming face-to-face while Paine was at the crease in Australia’s second innings. Umpire Chris Gaffaney intervened at one stage of the pair’s exchange.

"That's enough ... play the game," Gaffaney said at the time. "You boys are the captains. Play the game."

Paine’s response to the umpire was: "There's no swearing. We're just having a conversation."

But Gaffaney reminded the skippers of their roles. "You're the captain, Tim," he said.

Ricky Ponting labelled the incidents as "pretty light-hearted" and Kohli echoed the comments of the former Australia captain during his post-match press conference.