Virat Kohli refuses to join victory celebrations despite repeated calls; Gambhir-Rohit chat spills into team hotel
Virat Kohli starred in India's 17-run win against South Africa in the Ranchi ODI series opener | Cricket
After the match, as the team returned to their hotel, stand-in skipper KL Rahul, leading in Shubman Gill’s absence due to injury, was seen cutting a cake to celebrate the win, in a video that soon went viral on social media.
Kohli, who was named Player of the Match, entered the lobby while the celebration was underway and saw Rahul cutting the cake. However, he refused to stop and join the festivities. Despite repeated calls, he walked straight past the gathering and headed directly towards the elevator.
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Meanwhile, India head coach Gautam Gambhir and former captain Rohit Sharma were seen having another deep conversation in the lobby area, as they stood behind Rahul. Earlier, the two were seen in a long, animated discussion in the dressing room moments after India's win in the first ODI, which was joined by batting coach Sitanshu Kotak.
All well between Kohli-Rohit and Gambhir?
The two clips, along with another showing Kohli appearing to ignore Gambhir in the dressing room, surfaced amid reports suggesting that all is not well within the ODI setup.
India have won two of their last four ODI matches, with either Kohli or Rohit earning the Player of the Match award. In Australia, Rohit scored 73 and 121 to claim the Player of the Series, and followed it up with a 57 in Ranchi. Kohli, meanwhile, bounced back from successive ducks to scores of 74 and 135 in the last two games.
However, a Dainik Jagran report claimed that while the atmosphere in the T20I and Test setups remains stable, the same cannot be said about the ODI dressing room. According to the report, Gambhir no longer shares the same equation with the two senior batters as he once did.
“The relations between Gautam Gambhir and senior players Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma aren’t as good as they should be, and there could be a meeting regarding the future of the two players. This could take place either in Raipur or Visakhapatnam - venues for the second and third ODIs,” Jagran quoted a BCCI source as saying.
The report also added that the relationship between Kohli and Rohit and the selectors has become tense, something that was evident during the Australia tour in October.
