Indian captain Virat Kohli on Monday categorically refuted rumours of a rift with his deputy Rohit Sharma, saying "people feeding off lies" are being disrespectful to the players' personal lives. After India's ouster from the World Cup, stories of fissures in the Indian camp emerged with claims that Rohit and Kohli are not seeing eye to eye.
After refusing the claims of a rift between him and Rohit Sharma in the pre-departure press conference, Kohli tweeted a group picture featuring him and several other team members before boarding a flight to Miami. The Men in Blue, from there, will catch another flight to Florida where they will play first two T20Is against West Indies. Virat Kohli tweeted an image of him along with KL Rahul, Krunal Pandya, and others captioning it as 'Miami bound'. India batsman Shikhar Dhawan also tweeted an image with his opening partner Rohit Sharma and wrote: "All set for West Indies with my partner - The Hit-man!"
Speaking at a press conference just before the team's departure for West Indies, Kohli had dismissed speculation that all was not well between him and vice-captain Rohit Sharma saying that it is because of team chemistry that the national side has climbed the summit of international rankings.
"It baffles you as a player and team when such lies come out. It is bizarre, if the atmosphere in the team is not well, the team would not have been so consistent so far. We have climbed from No. 7 to No. 1. This cannot be done without the camaraderie between the players," he had said.
"In my opinion it's baffling to be honest. It's absolutely ridiculous to read such stuff that comes out. I have been to a few public events and the sentiment is 'aap log kya khele (you guys played so well)'," Kohli said, reacting to the rift rumours. India's head coach Ravi Shastri also dismissed the rumours and said that there is no nonsense in the team. He also clearly highlighted that no individual is greater than the team. India will play three T20Is and as many ODIs, and two Tests which are part of World Test Championship from August 3 to September 3.
(Inputs from Agencies)
