Mumbai (Maharashtra): India captain on Monday rejected reports of a rift between him and his deputy Rohit Sharma and said such reports were “disrespectful” and sought to take the cricket team’s efforts back while they were trying to take it to the top.
“If I do not like a person or if I am insecure of a person, you will see that on my face or in my behaviour towards that person and that is how simple it is. I have always praised Rohit whenever I have had an opportunity because I believe he is that good. We have had no issues,” he said during a pre-departure press conference ahead of West Indies tour.
He was replying to a question on recent reports which said that Rohit had “unfollowed” Virat and his wife Anushka Sharma on Instagram indicating there were differences between the two.
Kohli stated that the consistency team has right now is not possible if there are disputes.
“If the team environment is not good, then the kind of game we are playing for the last two-three years, it would have not been possible. I know how important the dressing room atmosphere, the trust factor is to succeed in international cricket. Our journey from number seven to number one and such consistent performance in the ODI cricket, it cannot happen without camaraderie, respect, and understanding,” he said.
India team head coach Ravi Shastri, who accompanied the skipper, also shared similar views as that of Kohli as he said: “The way this team plays, no individual is bigger than the game, not me, not him and nobody in the team. And the way they play is in the interest of the team and you cannot have the kind of consistency across all formats if you have rifts and divisions. It is not possible.”
India will compete against West Indies for three T20Is and as many ODIs and two Test matches which are part of World Test Championship. Out of all three formats, Kohli said he is excited about the T20I series as the team have young players in the squad for the format.
“I am particularly excited about the first three T20Is because new lot of players are coming in, some players have done really well in the format and shown great composure under pressure in tournaments like IPL and domestically as well,” Kohli said.
International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday officially launched the World Test Championship in which top nine Test teams will take part.
Kohli expressed his excitement over the World Test Championship as he said: “I am glad that people have thought about the Test cricket to keep it relevant through the Test Championship because when you are focusing on T20, you can easily say lets forget about both the format and make the sport exciting and people to watch the entertainment. But I think for the pure joy of playing cricket and executing your skills as cricketers, test cricket is the most important format for me, nothing comes above Test cricket.”
India will face West Indies for the first T20I match on August 3.