AFP, RANCHI (INDIA): Australian skipper Steve Smith accused his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli of talking “absolute rubbish” Wednesday despite efforts to bring an end to the arch rivals' bitter war of words.
After Kohli said on the eve of the third Test that he had no regrets over accusing Australia of systematically abusing the decision review system (DRS) in their last match in Bangalore, Smith angrily denied that he was guilty of more than a momentary lapse.
While the International Cricket Council is set to hold clear-the-air talks between the two men, the new exchanges are likely to complicate their efforts to broker peace between the top two-ranked Test teams.
Kohli's accusations last week had plunged the teams' often tense ties back into crisis mode, with Australia's board calling his comments "outrageous", prompting an equally robust response from the Indian camp.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the third Test in Ranchi, Kohli said his focus was now on the cricket but he refused to back down on his claims against Smith. India were furious when Smith was spotted looking up at his dressing-room for guidance in Bangalore on whether to seek a review of the umpire's decision after being given out lbw -- a clear breach of the DRS rules.
While Smith called the incident on the fourth and final day a one-off, Kohli said after the match that it had been going on for days.
Asked on Wednesday about Kohli's latest comments, Smith said he was keen to move things on but still snapped back at his counterpart.
While Smith did reveal that he had met match referee Richie Richardson, there has so far been no clear-the-air meeting between the two skippers. The four-match series is tantalisingly poised at 1-1.
India and Australia, the top two-ranked teams in Test cricket, have often been at loggerheads and relations hit a low point in 2008 when Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh was accused of calling Andrew Symonds a monkey.