THE dust on the enthralling Border-Gavaskar Trophy series is not about to settle anytime soon after Virat Kohli took aim at the Australian team yet again in an extraordinary attack during his post-match press conference.

The series, played in an incredibly competitive spirit, has boiled over once again following Kohli’s admission he is no longer friends with the Australian players.

It is the biggest talking point from a series to remember.

KOHLI SAYS FRIENDSHIPS HAVE BEEN LOST

IN the same hour Aussie captain Steve Smith reached out to the Indian cricket team to share a beer at the end of the series, Indian captain Virat Kohli has fired another verbal barb at his series rivals.

As India was celebrating a famous come from behind 2-1 series triumph, Kohli refused to let the spite remain on the field by once again questioning the character of his Australian rivals.

The star batsman said the friendships that he had with Australian players before the start of the series are no longer intact.

It follows Kohli’s sensational suggestion Australia had been systematically cheating before rival skipper Smith was busted during his second Test DRS “brain fade”.

Smith was also caught on broadcast cameras appearing to call Murali Vijay a “f***ing cheat” over the batsman’s controversial catch claim.

Kohli’s statement about his feelings towards the Australian camp have been described as a “thunderbolt”.

“No, it has changed,” Kohli said of his relationship with the Australians.

“I thought that was the case (we were friends), but it has changed for sure.

“As I said, in the heat of the battle you want to be competitive but I’ve been proven wrong.

“The thing I said before the first Test, that has certainly changed and you won’t hear me say that ever again.”

Kohli: I thought Australia's cricketers were my friends. Been proven wrong. You'll never hear me say that again. #indvaus pic.twitter.com/d1P2JnXXyJ — Anand Vasu (@anandvasu) March 28, 2017

The bridges have been burnt. Forever. https://t.co/UpfWq3yZXT — Ashish Magotra (@clutchplay) March 28, 2017

Smith apologizes. Kohli indicates friendships are over.



What a shame it comes to this after such a brilliant series...



😔#INDvAUS — Melinda Farrell (@melindafarrell) March 28, 2017

Smith apologized twice. Virat thrice praised Australian team for giving a tough fight. But this was a thunderbolt. ⚡️⚡️⚡️ #IndvAus — Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) March 28, 2017

Kohli just had a big pop in his press conference. Said pre-series was pals with Australian players. Changed? 1/ #INDvAUS — Adam Collins (@collinsadam) March 28, 2017

Kohli’s spray comes after Smith said he approached stand-in Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane with an invitation to get the teams together to share a beer at the end of a heated series.

Smith also made a public apology to India during the official trophy presentation in Dharamsala.

“I’ve been pretty intense through this series and wanted to do well for my team and lead from my front,” said Smith.

“I’ve been in my own bubble and I’ve let my emotions bubble over sometimes so I apologise for that.”

He told ABC Grandstand before Kohli’s press conference he was hopeful that there would not be any bad blood left to linger after the series.

There is now no chance of that.

“I said see you next week, he’s in my team for the IPL,” Smith said of his outreach to Rahane on the field.

“I asked if he wanted us to come in for a drink being at the end of the series. He said he’d get back to me. With Ajinkya, we get on well. He’s in my IPL team so I’ll be with him for the next few weeks.”

When asked if he believes there will be ongoing tension between the two camps, Smith said: “I don’t think so. We play hard out on the field and it’s always a fantastic contest against India. They’re a great side and they thoroughly deserved to win this series 2-1.”

“I’m sure all the guys in that changeroom are hurting right now, but we’ll take a lot from this tour and learn a lot from it.

“For this series I’ve been very intense and I’ve wanted to do well. I’ve wanted the team to do well. Sometimes I think I probably let my emotions get in the way of things and that’s something that I’m working on as an individual and as the captain of this team.

“It has been one of those series where I’ve never had so much determination and willingness to do well. I guess it hasn’t affected my performance, but it’s probably hindered me in other areas.”

SMITH’S DEFENSIVE FIELD SLAMMED

Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke has criticised Steve Smith’s field settings against India on day four.

Smith chose to bring on Nathan Lyon after India had suffered a double blow at 2/46, but selected a field that had three men on the boundary.

Clarke was clearly frustrated Smith was not attacking when he had such few runs to defend in India’s second innings.

“What is that field,” Clarke asked on Star Sports.

“You’ve got the Indian captain on zero and the game on the line and you’ve got three fielders on the boundary?

“What is the difference if India makes 59 runs in the next hour or it takes them until tomorrow?”

AUSSIE BATSMEN PROVED WEAK LINK AGAIN

IF you take Steve Smith away, Australia’s batting unit wasn’t good enough, yet again.

While Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb had moments when they took the fight to India, there were once again too many passengers that have been protected from a storm of criticism by the phenomenal batting display of their captain.

Smith’s 499 runs across the four Tests was the only thing that stopped Australia from being embarrassed this series.

“There was plenty of good individual stuff, particularly from Steve Smith,” Aussie Test great Allan Border told Fox Sports.

“He led from the front. His contribution, three centuries in those conditions is pretty telling. He just needed one of the guys to step up, it wasn’t to be.You can’t knock the effort the Aussie guys put in.”

Former Test keeper Brad Haddin said Warner’s failure to contribute was telling.

“We missed our other class player getting some runs,” he said.

“I think Renshaw, Handscomb, Marsh, Maxwell, they’ll all learn from this experience. Steve Smith, he just needed some support.”

Haddin said keeper Matt Wade has cemented his spot in the side.

“Matt Wade I thought answered a lot of critics with his gloves. I thought he did a reasonable job behind the stumps.”