Virat Kohli says he is “baffled” by reports of a rift between Rohit Sharma and himself and disunity within the team, calling them lies “made to look believable”.
Several media reports have pointed to simmering tensions within the Indian cricket team, particularly between Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma after India suffered a shock exit from the Cricket World Cup last month.
“In my opinion, it’s baffling. It’s ridiculous to read such stuff,” he said.
“We are feeding off lies, we are overlooking facts. We are turning a blind eye to all the good things that have happened and creating fantasies and scenarios in our head and want to accept that this is the truth. I have seen this for too long now, you know, bringing personal lives is disrespectful after a moment, honestly,” Kohli told reporters in Mumbai before departing for the team’s tour to the US and West Indies.
“If I don’t like a person or if I am insecure of a person, you will see that on my face or in my behavior towards that person. That’ how simple it is. I have always praised Rohit whenever I have had an opportunity because I believe he is that good. We have had no issues,” the world number batsman added.
Kohli said if there had been a rift in the team, they wouldn’t have been successful as a team.
“I have heard a lot of things from the outside. If the atmosphere of the team had not been good, we wouldn’t have been able to play the way we have. We have risen from number seven to number one, that couldn’t have happened without the camaraderie, mutual respect and understanding,” he said.
“I don’t know who is benefitting from all of this. We here are living, breathing working towards getting Indian cricket to the top and here people want to get some sort of pleasure in bringing it down. You work hard for four years to bring the team from [number] seven to one. And after four years, what are we talking about?”
“It baffles you as a leader, as a coach as a team when lies are being floated around and made to look like they are believable. It’s actually very disrespectful to be honest,” he said.
The Indian team left for the US on Monday and will play two T20I matches against West Indies on 3rd and 4th August before heading to the Carribean for rest of the tour.
