NEW DELHI: Cricket fans could not have asked for a better build-up to the Ashes, with Australia's stand-in Test captain Steve Smith mocking Monty Panesar with a hilarious response after the former England spinner sparked outrage with his demand.

Panesar had urged England captain Ben Stokes and the English media to target Smith over the 2018 Sandpapergate scandal during the upcoming Ashes series.

'Make Smith feel guilty'

"Ben Stokes and the England team have got to make Steve Smith feel guilty and play on that," Panesar said while referring to Sandpapergate.

"Say something like, 'I don't think it's ethical that he's the captain.' Really get into him and make him feel guilty... Use it as a way to help England."

Panesar took his remarks a step further, insisting that the UK media should also intensify the pressure: "If it were the opposite, the Australian media would be all over it... 'the cheaters have arrived', right?"

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Smit gives Panesar a taste of his own medicine

While addressing a press conference ahead of the Perth Test, Smith was asked about Panesar's provocative remarks, and what followed left the media room in splits. He questioned Panesar's credibility by bringing up the former spinner's infamous 2019 appearance on the UK quiz show Celebrity Mastermind.

"I'm going to go off topic for a second here," he began. "Who in the room has seen Mastermind with Monty Panesar on it? Any of you?"

Smith then urged everyone to watch the clip, calling it "pretty comical."

"Anyone that believes Athens is in Germany, that Oliver Twist is a season of the year, and that America is a city... those comments don't really bother me. That's as far as I'll go with that one."