The Australian media continued their abusive rant against Virat Kohli even after Steve Smith's men succumbed to defeat in Dharamsala and had to give up the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

There was plenty of acrimony right through the series and there was palpable tension between the players, stoked first by the DRS row in Bengaluru and flamed further by biased reporting by Australian journalists in desperate search of headlines.

Australia might bask in the glory of a good tour despite losing 1-2 but the truth is the Aussie media do not have much to write home about. Smith was brilliant, scoring hundreds at will against the world's best spinners but the rest of the Australian batting line-up churned out rather ordinary performances, barring a rare exception here and there.

Nathan Lyon was clearly a hero for the Australian attack. Steve O'Keefe after 12 wickets in Pune, hardly posed a threat to India's star batsmen. Josh Hazlewood pocketed a six-for in Bengaluru but was no match for a fiery Umesh Yadav, who finished with 17 wickets.

David Warner, the nastiest of bullies in the Australian line-up, showed yet again his lack of Test match skills away from the comforts of home.

In such circumstances, a biased Australian media, decided to train their guns on world cricket's biggest star: Virat Kohli.

The Indian captain had caught Smith trying to cheat with the DRS in Bengaluru and then rubbished Smith's claims of brain fade.

Smith even called Murali Vijay a f*****g cheat because HE thought Vijay was sure he had claimed a catch that replays showed was grassed. The young Australian captain clearly forgot what his predecessors did in the Sydney Test of 2008, claiming catches even when the ball had bounced miles ahead of them.

WATCH: KOHLI SAYS DON'T POKE INDIA

Because Kohli had a rare bad run (after a sensational season where he became the only man in history to smash double hundreds in four successive series), and because Kohli is the only man in international cricket who has the guts to stand up to Australia's constant needling, Aussie journalists accused him of throwing bottles at their cricket officials and drew other bizarre comparisons.

After the end of the series, Kohli was honest enough to say that the nastiness on the field had spilled over way too far and he was no longer friends with Australia's cricketers, who had mocked his injuries and called his teammate a liar.

Smith was forced to apologise for his poor behaviour and even asked his Rising Pune Supergiant teammate Ajinkya Rahane for drinks after the Dharamsala Test. Rahane said he would get back on the invitation but Australian newspapers, in a horrible twist, bared their fans on Kohli again.

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'Virat Kohli had to shake hands and move on after series win but he acted like a child' screamed one headline. The report even went on to call Kohli a liar. Another newspaper said Kohli acted like a child and called him an "egomaniac."

At least, Kohli was honest in saying what he did after the series: he said his team would not stand any more negativity from Australian cricketers and their former players, some of whom did not exactly cover themselves in glory with their on-field behaviour. What was so wrong with that?

On the other hand, Smith might now be worried about how he would survive the IPL, having irked several Indian stars.

Along with Rahane, Smith will also have the company of R Ashwin in RPS. The Australian skipper would hope for a pleasant Indian summer after he was caught calling Vijay a cheat.

Will Ashwin forgive and forget? Smith would do well to ask James Anderson.