"Never saw it, never seen it affecting the team" - Ravi Shastri on alleged 'rift' between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
Team India head coach Ravi Shastri has firmly brushed aside long-standing reports of a possible 'rift' between Indian captain Virat Kohli and his white-ball deputy Rohit Sharma during the 2019 World Cup.
Ravi Shastri said on Thursday that he didn't encounter anything like that as the taalmel (co-ordination) between the two was always good. The 59-year-old asserted that if he had found any friction, he would have addressed it on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's faces.
Ravi Shastri told Times Now:
"I never saw it. So when people used to ask me like this, I say what you have seen I have not seen. Hamesha taalmel acha hai (the co-ordination has always been there). I have never seen it affecting the team. If I see an effect in the team, I will say on Virat or Rohit's face that this is not on and you have to look at things differently. But not once have I seen it impacting the team from day 1. I am a person who says what I want."
Unverified media sources had claimed there were some disagreements between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma over the functioning of the team, soon after India's semi-final loss to New Zealand in the World Cup. However, neither the team nor any of the players or support staff members from the squad have confirmed anything since.
More recently, The Times of India claimed that Ravi Shastri had heralded a thaw between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's relations earlier this year by making the duo "talk it out."
"The pressure is on England" - Ravi Shastri
Speaking about the ongoing series in England, Ravi Shastri feels the pressure of the fourth Test is on the hosts despite India coming off a heavy defeat in Leeds.
He remarked that Virat Kohli's men had already proved their mettle and it was now up to Joe Root to prevent them from winning the series.
Shastri told Times Now Navbharat:
"If anyone thinks that this Indian team is going to back off, they have another one coming because at 1-1, we are playing overseas, the pressure is on England. They have to win in their own country. We have done what we had to do with them in India. So, the ball is in their court and we will fight, there's no question about it."
The fourth Test will get underway at 3:30 PM IST today at The Oval.