Australia Test captain Tim Paine insists his players did not take it easy against India captain Virat Kohli during the 2018-19 series Down Under to protect their Indian Premier League (IPL) prospects.
Former Australia captain Michael Clarke had claimed that some Australian players had steered clear of antagonising Kohli as they feared it could negatively impact their franchise deals.
India went on to win the Test series 2-1 in the absence of Steve Smith and David Warner, who had been serving their suspensions after the ball-tampering scandal.
Paine said it was a team strategy to not get into any verbal confrontation with Kohli as that usually spurs him on. And nothing more than that.
"I certainly didn't notice too many people being that nice to Virat or not trying to get him out or anything like that," Paine told ESPNcricinfo.
"I thought everyone who had the ball in their hand or when we were batting were trying their absolute best to win the game for Australia. I'm not sure who was going easy on him; we certainly had a thing where we didn't want to provoke any fight with him because we think that's when he plays at his best.
"I certainly wasn't holding back, but again the IPL is not a huge draw for me, so I had nothing to lose. But anytime our guys go out and play a Test for Australia, they'll be giving their absolute all and I'm pretty sure they're not thinking about an IPL contract when they're running in, bowling to Virat."
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Clarke had previously criticised the Australian team for 'worrying about being liked'. However, Paine believes successful Test campaigns in the Ashes and against Pakistan and New Zealand show that the team has hit the right balance.
"What you say on the field is irrelevant 99 per cent of the time," Paine said.
"Sometimes you can get a little inside someone's head, but if you're not batting well and not bowling well, all the talk in the world doesn't mean anything."
"As we've seen in the last 12 or 18 months, we still stick up for each other, we still fight as hard as any Australian team. But we've just had to move with the times and I've been really proud of the way we've played our cricket."
