Mumbai, April 19 : Actress Taniya Chatterjee, who has been facing defamation charges by the Indian cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal, has revealed that she had no intention of defaming the cricketer and had shared his message in an extremely innocent manner.

During an exclusive conversation with IANS, Taniya said that she has the utmost respect for the cricketer as he has done a lot for the country.

She was asked, "You have been making a lot of headlines for the last few days. The news is doing rounds that Yuzvendra Chahal had sent you a message saying 'cute'. What would you like to say about that?"

Taniya said that there is nothing wrong with complimenting someone.

She told IANS. "It was just a casual message. There is nothing wrong if someone compliments you. I still have a lot of respect for him (Yuzvendra Chahal). Being an Indian cricketer, he has done a lot for the country, so I will always have immense respect for him in my heart."

Explaining what happened in her own words, she continued, "There was a discussion happening about the IPL, and he had just called me 'cute'. So through the discussion, this topic came out, and I had just shared it in a very innocent way. I did not try to defame him. I like compliments, and hence I shared it."

Talking about the defamation case, she said, "I was also shocked. There is no defamation case here as I have not defamed him. I had just praised him, and I am still praising him. It is just a compliment I had shared in an innocent way".

During the second week of IPL, a video of Taniya interacting with photographers went viral on social media. The clip had her showing her phone screen, claiming that Yuzvendra had replied to her Instagram stories several times.

She further claimed that the cricketer had sent her a direct message (DM) calling her â??cute.â?? After this statement went viral on social media, Yuzvendra responded by filing a defamation case against her.

/IANS