Virat Kohli's friendship' remarks disappoint Mark Taylor, Dean Jones, Darren Lehmann

Melbourne: Denouncing Virat Kohli's comments that the spiteful Test series has ended his friendship with the Australians, legendary batsman Mark Taylor says the India captain should not hold any grudges since it's just a game in the end.

Soon after claiming the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with win in Dharamsala Test, Kohli declared that he no longer enjoys friendship with the Australians.

The comments, however, did not go down well with Taylor, who feels Kohli should grow "bigger".

"Cricketers play together a lot these days, both with and against each other, so you've got to be very careful about holding grudges and making stances like that," Taylor wrote in his blog for Wide World of Sports.

"I always tried to catch up with the opposition after a match. There are series where you're disappointed because things didn't go your way, or you're delighted because things did go your way, but you have to be bigger than that.

"You have to say, 'Well, irrespective of my own performance and that of my team I've got to go and put my face in there and say thanks for the contest.' "At the end of the day it's become a fully professional game with quite a bit at stake, but it's still just a game and I think that's what people have got to remember," he added.

Former Australia batsman Dean Jones and ex-England player David Lloyd also questioned the wisdom of Kohli's comments.

"Virat will learn that this great game is not just about winning and losing. It's also about the friends you make while playing the game," Jones wrote on his twitter handle.

Lloyd asked Kohli to take some lessons from Sachin Tendulkar on how to conduct himself on and off the field.

"This lad certainly has a lot to say ...maybe should sit and LISTEN to S Tendulkar," Lloyd tweeted.

Meanwhile, Australia coach Darren Lehmann on Wednesday said he is disappointed with India captain for declaring that he is no longer friends with Australian players after an aggressively-contested Test series.

"Disappointing but that's his opinion isn't it?" said Lehmann in a pre-departure media interaction.

On whether he thought that the rest of the Indian team had sentiments similar to Kohli, Lehmann replied in the negative.

"No, I don't think the Indian team (feels that), I too was very impressed with (Ajinkya) Rahane's captaincy. I thought he was brilliant," Lehmann said, trying to side-step the query by referring to Rahane's stand-in captaincy during the fourth and final Test in Dharamsala.

Kohli had missed the series-decider owing to a shoulder injury and even that had been mocked by the Australian players.

Lehmann was lavish in his praise for Australia captain Steve Smith, comparing his superb batting run in the series with no less than Don Bradman. Smith finished with 499 runs in four games.

"Smith has been brilliant, he has been unbelievable. He has been Bradman-like with the bat. I am really pleased with him and how he has brought the team as a leader," he said.

However, Lehmann was candid in admitting that the Australian team's performance did not quite match up to India. He was nonetheless proud of the effort put in by the visitors.

"We were disappointing in a couple of Test matches. We got so close but yet so far I suppose. We were a 100 runs short in this game. But I am proud of the lads and the effort they put in," he said.

"The way they have gone about it, it has been impressive. There are a lot of learnings for this group on this tour. They are hurting with the result at the moment but I am pleased with the effort and attitude. Smith will just get better and better.

"They have copped a lot from the Indian media. I am pleased with how they have handled it. We weren't good enough in this series but we have got to keep learning," he added.

Kohli, in the post match press conference in Dharamsala said he no longer considers Australian cricketers his friends after being targeted both on and off the field by them in a fiercely-fought Test series that India won.