"We are feeding off lies" - When Virat Kohli trashed rumors of a rift between him and Rohit Sharma
In July 2019, Indian captain Virat Kohli was baffled with rumors circulating about his alleged rift with ODI vice-captain Rohit Sharma. Kohli expressed his thoughts on the media reports in a press conference ahead of the team's departure to West Indies.
The speculations on the duo's rift emerged after India's 2019 World Cup semifinal loss against New Zealand. According to the reports, Kohli and Sharma had differences in the decisions taken during the 2019 World Cup.
The showpiece event saw Sharma emerge as the top run-getter with 648 runs in nine innings, while hitting five centuries. Kohli also did well to contribute 443 runs at an average of 55.37.
As per Kohli, the team would not have achieved success in the 2019 World Cup, if the dressing room's environment wasn't good. He said:
"In my opinion, it's baffling, to be honest. It's absolutely ridiculous to read such stuff that comes out there," Kohli said in Mumbai before the team's departure for the tour of the USA and the West Indies. "I mean I've been to a few public events and the public sentiment that I've seen - everyone comes up and says, 'yaar, aap log kya khele (you guys played so well). We have so much respect for you.'" [H/t ESPNcricinfo]
He added:
"And here 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 we want to accept that this is the truth."
Check out Virat Kohli's comments below:
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have called time on their T20I career together
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had a happy ending to their T20I career, as they announced their retirement from the shortest format after India's T20 World Cup title victory.
Sharma led the side in fine fashion as India remained unbeaten in the competition. He also ended as India's highest run-scorer with 257 runs at a strike rate of over 150. Meanwhile, Kohli rose to the occasion to hit 76 off 59 in the final against South Africa to help the Men in Blue win the game by seven runs.
Interestingly, Sharma (4231) and Kohli (4188) ended as the top run-getters in the T20I format. 'Hitman' has also the joint-most (5) hundreds in the T20I format.
The duo will be seen representing the Indian team in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh, beginning September 19.