‘There was a Virat Camp and a Rohit Camp’- Former fielding coach confirms rift between two star players
Former fielding coach of the Indian cricket team R Shridhar has confirmed the rumours of the divide in the Indian team during the 2019 world cup. The rumours of a tussle between then-captain Virat Kohli and vice-captain Rohit Sharma made headlines for months and now a coach who was part of the camp has confirmed it.
In his book ‘Coaching Beyond: My Days with the Indian Cricket Team’ Shridhar revealed that Virat and Rohit split the team into two camps during the 2019 World Cup. He named these camps ‘Rohit Camp’ and ‘Virat Camp’ while also stated about how Coach Ravi Shastri intervened to resolve the issue.
Sridhar in his book wrote, “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.”
Ravi Shastri solved the issue
According to Shridhar, the rift was resolved by Coach Ravi Shastri during India’s tour of the West Indies. “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”, writes Shridhar.
After that, Sridhar talks about how the two celebrities’ friendship developed as they could be seen supporting each other when they were successful on the field. “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 doing so,” Sridhar explained.
Notably, the Indian team is set to host Australia in a four-match Test series starting on February 9. The team will expect both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to score with bat and lead the team to a decisive victory.
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