Friendship is not a mandate to perform for a cricket team, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are no exceptions
The first message I received this morning was from an ardent sports enthusiast in the US. An avid cricket fan, he has written, “Watched the show Backstage with Boria”, enjoyed it.
He further added - "Can you please tell us if Rohit Sharma is actually injured or has the BCCI asked him to say so because they want to avoid the awkwardness in the dressing room?”
To be honest, the message is laughable. In fact, I was about to laugh it off. But then this is indeed the sentiment going round that the two can’t face each other in the dressing room and their relationship is no longer civil.
This is simply outrageous to tell the truth. Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale for Real Madrid, Pele and Garrincha for Brazil, Steve Waugh and Shane Warne for Australia and closer home, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev for India.
Relations between these super achievers was never the most amiable. In fact, can never be. Anyone who follows high performance sport will agree relations between such achievers will mostly be frosty. In fact, Gary Kirsten had said it best to me the morning after the India-Pakistan semi-final at Mohali during the 2011 World Cup.
Gary was having breakfast when I bumped into him and congratulated him on India’s famous win against Pakistan, and went on to add how he had managed superstar egos really well and got them to be friends with each other.
That’s when Gary smiled and put things in perspective.
“Do you think all of these players are friends? Can it ever happen? 11 and more high achievers, each of who will have their own whims and fancies, can never be friends. Frankly, they need not be. All I want as coach is when the last catch goes up and whoever is under the ball the rest of the 14 should pray he takes the catch for India. Their private time, likes and dislikes, are theirs and I have nothing to do with it," Gary had said.
The very same should apply for Virat Kohli and Rohit. Do they have to be best friends to be captain and vice-captain of the Indian cricket team and yield the best results? The answer is a flat NO. Steve Waugh and Shane Warne, never really friendly to each other, presided over the most successful era in Australian cricket.
Rohit Sharma vs Virat Kohli rumours need to be put to rest
While we in the media are happy debating and wasting newsprints on a possible rift between Kohli and Rohit, I wonder why it is so hard for us to accept that difference of opinion at this level is the norm and not an aberration.
As long as Virat reaches out to Rohit as captain, whenever he feels the need that is, we should be happy. Whenever Rohit is in need, he will for sure reach out to Kohli as a leader in the pack. That’s what it should be like between two top achievers, who have both brought laurels to the country.
At the end of the day, as hardened professionals, they know their job well and will not be impacted by all this surround sound. While rifts etc make for great copy, the truth is such things don’t really matter when India’s two best players step out donning national colours.
For Rohit not to play Tests or Kohli not to play ODIs because the other is skipper is simple nonsense. They know better and so does the BCCI. The faster these rumours are laid to rest, the better it is for Indian cricket.