After the hard-fought Border-Gavaskar Trophy series win in Dharamsala last month, much was made out of India declining traditional post-match drinks with the Australian team.

Steve Smith had invited stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane and his team to their dressing room, but the offer was turned down. To make matters worse, Indian captain Virat Kohli had publicly claimed that his friendship with some Australian players was over, a statement he later clarified.

However, the time for acrimony seems to be over with the Indian Premier League starting on April 5. Incidentally, Smith will be captaining Rising Pune Supergiant, a team that also includes Rahane. In fact, the two have been seen regularly for team promotions.

Unsurprisingly, a few days before the 10th edition of the league, Rahane was asked about the declined offer for drinks, and the batsman defended his team’s decision saying that the Indian players wanted to celebrate together.

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“It’s [in the] past now,” he said. “I am happy we won the Test series and as a unit we played really well. As a team, we had our own celebrations. It was important for me and my team to stay together after a long and successful season. When you win as a team, you should celebrate as a team. So we celebrated in our dressing room. We had to celebrate as a team,” Rahane was quoted as saying.

Rahane also spoke about how he approached captaincy and revealed that a call from Indian great Sachin Tendulkar motivated him further. “It was a proud moment for me, but the mood was somber in the dressing room because of Virat’s injury,” he said. “[Kohli] inspired all of us with his confidence and support despite the injury. As a captain, I knew I am a different person and everybody has his own style as captain. On the ground, I knew I had seniors with me, but at the end, I had to take calls. Throughout the match, I wanted to follow my style. Before the match, I got a call from Sachin. He also asked me to follow my instinct. It inspired me.”