'Stuff that could be unsettling...' - R Sridhar opens up on alleged rift between Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma in autobiography

Ever since India lost to New Zealand in the semi-finals of the 50-over World Cup way back in 2019 and the Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma duo was caught having an animated exchange, the Indian press left no stone unturned to cook up stories claiming an alleged rift between the two. The stories escalated when the two allegedly unfollowed each other on their social media accounts, following the defeat against the Black Caps, although it is unclear to date. 

R Sridhar, the former Indian fielding coach, opened up on the incident in his book ‘Coaching Beyond’ and said that it was former head coach Ravi Shastri who called upon the two cricketers to let them know about the intention of not wanting to pay attention to what was being written on every news media on the internet. 

“After the 2019 World Cup, there was a lot of bad press about what allegedly happened in the dressing room during our campaign and following our loss to New Zealand in the semifinal. We were informed that there was a Rohit camp and a Virat camp, that someone had unfollowed another on social media – stuff that could be unsettling if you allowed it to fester,” Sridhar wrote in his autobiography ‘Coaching Beyond’. 

You could see that things started to get better after that: R Sridhar

Sridhar added that once the team landed in the United States for the series against West Indies, it was Shastri who took the initiative to calm things down and get the team together. Further, the former Indian fielding coach added that the idea worked in the team’s favour as the duo put things behind and worked for the team from thereon. 

“We landed in the United States (US) some 10 days after the World Cup for a T20 series against West Indies in Lauderhill. One of the first things Ravi did on arrival was to call Virat and Rohit to his room and impress upon them that for Indian cricket to be healthy, they needed to be on the same page. ‘Whatever happened on social media, that’s all fine, but you two are the most senior cricketers so this must stop,’ Ravi said in his typical non-nonsense manner. ‘I want you to put all this behind and get together for us to move forward’,” Sridhar wrote in his autobiography. 

“You could see that things started to get better after that. Ravi’s action was swift, simple and decisive. It was just getting both the guys together, sitting them down and making them talk. Ravi didn’t waste any time in doing so. That he felt encouraged to call the white-ball captain and his deputy to clearly state his mind is indicative of the kind of atmosphere we had facilitated,” he added.