Rohit: I don't just walk out for my team, I walk out for my country

Virat Kohli with Rohit Sharma

The controversy surrounding Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's alleged 'tiff' is not showing any signs of fadin away. After Virat Kohli came out and brushed off talks of any rift with his deputy in ODI cricket, Rohit Sharma has put out a tweet saying, "I don't just walk out for my Team. I walk out for my country."

Ahead of the Indian team's departure to the United States on Monday, Virat Kohli refuted any rumours of a rift with his deputy Rohit saying "people feeding off lies" are being disrespectful to the players' personal lives and families.

"In my opinion, its baffling. It's absolutely ridiculous to read these kind of stuff, that comes out there. I have been to public events where we have been praised and here we are feeding off lies, overlooking facts, turning a blind eye to all good things that happened and creating fantasies and scenarios in our head. We want to accept that this is the truth," Kohli had said.

Virat Kohli in the press conference further added, "It is baffling to be honest. It is absolutely ridiculous to read such stuff. I have been to a few public events and everyone comes up and says, 'aap log kya khele [you guys played so well], we have so much respect for you'. 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."Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli

"It is bringing personal lives into the picture. It is disrespectful. I have played the game for 11 years, Rohit has played for [more than] 10 years, it is bizarre to know people are creating this stuff on the outside," said Virat Kohli, insisting the media come in the dressing room to experience first-hand camaraderie between team members.

Coach Ravi Shastri too had rubbished the reports of differences between the two star players. After India's ouster from the World Cup, there were alleged reports of an unpleasant atmosphere in the Indian camp with claims that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are not seeing eye to eye.

Rohit Sharma was the star of the Indian camp during the World Cup 2019, scoring five centuries in 9 matches. Rohit Sharma broke the previous record of four centuries in a World Cup by Kumar Sangakkara, which he scored in the 2015 World Cup.

Rohit Sharma also scored a blistering 140 runs against Pakistan to lead India to a big win. Rohit Sharma however, failed in the semi-final, where he scored just 1 run, which led to India's top-order collapse. Rohit Sharma was visibly in tears after India lost the match along with MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya who also were visibly distraught.

With inputs from PTI

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