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“Mere aur Rohit ke beech koi problem nahin hai”: Virat Kohli clears the air around rift with Rohit Sharma

Dixit Bhargav
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"Mere aur Rohit ke beech koi problem nahin hai": Virat Kohli clears the air around rift with Rohit Sharma

Virat Kohli clears the air: The former Indian white-ball captain has once again ruled out an alleged rift between him and Rohit Sharma.

India Test captain Virat Kohli has admitted that the team will miss all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on the upcoming tour of South Africa. Jadeja, 33, had suffered a right forearm injury to miss the recently concluded second Test against New Zealand in Mumbai.

“We all know [Ravindra] Jadeja’s quality and he will be missed. But we have enough bench strength. As much as we will miss him, I am sure that will not be a deciding factor,” Kohli told reporters in a virtual press conference from Mumbai.

Off-spinner Jayant Yadav, who can contribute with the bat as well, had replaced Jadeja at the Wankhede Stadium earlier this month. The 31-year old had been subsequently named as the second spin-bowling option after Ravichandran Ashwin in India’s 18-member Test squad for a three-match Test series in South Africa.

Readers must note that Jadeja had played ahead of Ashwin as a lone spin-bowling option in four Test matches in England earlier this year.

Virat Kohli clears the air around rift with Rohit Sharma

The last one week in Indian cricket has been witness to a different set of reports claiming contrasting speculations behind Kohli getting sacked as ODI captain, Rohit Sharma’s promotion as ODI captain, Kohli’s alleged unavailability for the upcoming ODI series in South Africa and Sharma’s hamstring injury.

Kohli, who put forward his side of the story around his ODI demotion in addition to confirming his availability for the ODI series, yet again ruled out an alleged rift between him and Sharma.

Mere aur Rohit [Sharma] ke beech mein kuch nahin hai. Mai 2.5 saal se yeh hi bol raha hoon. Mai thak chuka hu bol-bol ke. Mere aur Rohit ke beech koi problem nahi hai [There’s nothing between myself and Rohit. I’ve been clarifying for the last two and a half years or so. I’m really tired. There’s no problem between us],” Kohli added.

Virat Kohli on Rohit Sharma

Kohli, who will be playing as a specialist batter in the white-ball team after more than half-a-decade, was praiseworthy of Sharma’s leadership skills and expressed his “absolute support” in whatever vision Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid set for the team.

“My responsibility is obviously to push the team in the right direction. Something that I’ve always looked to do; even before I became the captain. That mindset has never changed and it will never change.

“Rohit is a very able captain and very tactically sound. We’ve seen that in the IPL as well as for India. Rahul [Dravid] bhai is a very balanced coach. Great man-manager. Both of them will have my absolute support and my contribution is whatever vision they set for the team,” Kohli mentioned.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Dixit Bhargav

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Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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