Melbourne: Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said yesterday sledging had nothing to do with India’s losing performance in the series against Australia and he encouraged more of it in this week’s third Test in Melbourne.

Dhoni said he saw nothing wrong with sledging despite India coming off second-best in their efforts to distract Mitchell Johnson during last week’s second Test in Brisbane.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma fired up Johnson in Brisbane with the explosive paceman slugging 88 off 93 balls with 13 fours and one six, and shared in a ground-record 148 runs with Steve Smith for the seventh wicket to turn around Australia’s first innings.

Johnson followed up his game-changing knock with a dynamic spell of fast bowling capturing three for 10 in the space of 11 balls to rip the heart out of India’s top order in the second innings to set Australia up for victory and a 2-0 lead in the series.

India must-win Friday’s third Test in Melbourne to keep alive the four-match series to the final Test in Sydney in the New Year.

Former captain Sunil Gavaskar said the tourists should tone down their “verbal spats” in the series, but Dhoni confirmed that won’t be happening.

“I feel a bit of chirping is good on the field,” Dhoni told reporters.

“That’s what makes cricket interesting... if the guidelines are followed, I’m not really bothered.

“The chirping has nothing to do with our performance.”

Aggressive Australia opening batsman David Warner has already said that he won’t be toning down his “banter” in the Boxing Day Test.

“I like to go at them, to try and get them to bite back at me when I go out there and bat. At the moment, it’s working,” Warner said.

Warner swapped barbs with India en route to a century in Adelaide after being bowled off a no-ball and was fined by the ICC along with India duo Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli for bust-ups during the stormy first Adelaide Test.

“Blokes like Davey like to say a fair bit. Everyone’s different. I don’t really say too much,” skipper Steve Smith said Thursday.

“At the moment the Indians are doing that themselves.

“They’re doing a lot of whingeing and complaining among themselves.

“They’re doing it all for us. Hopefully that can hinder them this week.”

Dhoni also dismissed reports that Kohli and Dhawan had to be separated by team director Ravi Shastri during the Gabba Test.

Dhawan retired hurt after being struck on the arm while batting in the nets prior to day four in Brisbane.

Kohli was also struck by a short ball, but batted in place of Dhawan.

Kohli lasted 11 balls, with an Indian newspaper reporting he blamed Dhawan for the dismissal and accused his teammate of feigning injury in a heated confrontation, something Dhoni denied.

Meanwhile, India may have to wait a little longer to see Bhuvneshwar Kumar in action in Australia as captain Dhoni indicated the seamer’s injured ankle could keep him out of the third test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, starting on Friday.

The 24-year-old was the most impressive player in India’s 3-1 defeat in England earlier this year and was considered vital for his team’s chances in the four-test series in Australia.

But the injury sidelined him for the first two test defeats and could also keep him out of the Boxing Day test, which the hosts need only to draw to seal the series.

“He has started bowling, he bowled during nets in the last test also, but we want to load him with a bit more with bowling,” Dhoni told reporters on Thursday.

“But as far as his fitness is concerned he is fit and also available for selection.

“But test-match fitness is slightly different, you may be fit but you have to see five days of load, how many overs you can bowl, what the situation may be. You actually prepare for the worst when it comes to fitness in test cricket.” Kumar was not only the most successful bowler for India in England with 19 wickets, he delivered some stoic resistance with the bat lower down the order -- something India desperately missed during the first two defeats in Australia.

While India usually keep a tight lid on their team selection until the very last minute, comments from Dhoni on Thursday suggested limited-overs specialist Suresh Raina may replace Rohit Sharma in the middle order.

Sharma has aggregated 81 from his four innings in the series and could make way for Raina, who last played a test match in August 2012 against New Zealand at home.

“He has been working hard on his cricket and we will reflect once he gets a game,” Dhoni said of Raina, who has played 17 tests for India.

“We need a player like him, reason being apart from being a good batsman he is also a good bowler, so if there is some turn he can bowl a bit.

“He is someone who can bowl quite consistently. He can give me those 10-15 overs if it is really needed. So that’s one area where we have been lacking in this set-up.

“There are not many batsmen who actually bowl. So we are trying to get batsmen to bowl so we can give a bit of rest needed for fast bowlers.”