Virat Kohli says he laughed it off when he found out about the ball tampering allegations against his name

Ahead of the third India-England Test in Mohali, the talk has moved on from the pitches to ball tampering with the hosts skipper Virat Kohli in the limelight for allegedly using artificial substance during the Rajkot Test.

When asked about the incident, the 28-year-old said he didn’t have to think too much about since no one from the ICC had contacted him and added that the incident had taken the focus away from the action on the field.

"To me, a newspaper article doesn't matter over the decision of ICC. We as cricketers respect that only. And allegations and speculations? I don't read newspapers so I'm not aware of these things, someone told me and I laughed it off. Some people are trying to take the focus away from the series – good luck to them. But we're totally focussed on what we have to do,

"I think it's just to take the focus away from the series to be honest. It happened in Australia when South Africa won the series. I'm surprised the issue of what I've been told came up in Rajkot but there was no mention until the result in Vizag,” the right-hander said on Friday.

Kohli and his men are at present on a 15-match unbeaten run in Tests and speaking about the streak, he said that it was a challenge for the side to keep it going and expressed happiness over how the entire team have stood up and performed.

“ Its a challenge. Challenge to repeat the same things that team has been doing for a while. It's something we take as a responsibility, and not as a burden. We need to make sure we put all things into place for us to have the best chance of going out there and winning.

“We need to be aware of how we should prepare. What are the small things that need to be in place. The challenge is a tough one and all of them have lived up to it so far and it is real good to see as a captain,” Kohli said.

The Decision Review System(DRS) has come under the spotlight in recent times and when asked about the technology. Kohli said that the DRS helped in ensuring the correct call had been made and stood by the umpire’s call element, stating that the benefit of the doubt has to go to the person officiating on the field.

“ I think it's just one way to make sure everyone knows whether the correct decision has been given or not. The Umpire’s call bit everyone understands because they are the people given the job to make the decisions and their call is respected.

“I think that is pretty fair because if the on-field umpire has made a call, then obviously the benefit has to go to him, in terms of what his vision of the decision was and the DRS just confirms it. The DRS just confirms the decision made on the field. I think it is pretty fair for me," he said.