Chief Selector on rifts between Virat, Rohit- SportsTiger

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While there have been many reports suggesting a rift between two of the biggest names in Indian cricket at the moment- Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, BCCI Chief Selector Chetan Sharma in his address to the media said that there is no authenticity in such claims. He even asked the media personnel to keep all the controversy aside and only keep the best interest of Indian cricket in mind.

This was also Chetan's first press conference after Kohli's address to the media before leaving for South Africa in which his remark, in complete contradiction of what the board had said after removing him as the ODI captain, created controversy. The 55-year-old backed BCCI President Sourav Ganguly's claims saying that the board has indeed asked Kohli to continue to lead the T20I side.

We all felt that it will affect the World Cup: Chetan Sharma

"With the World Cup coming up, that news [of Kohli wanting to step down as T20I captain] surprised us. Everyone in the meeting said that you should think about your decision and we can speak about it after the World Cup. We all felt that it will affect the World Cup," he said at the press conference.

"Rohit and Virat are absolutely fine and they plan things together very well to take Indian cricket forward. They eat together, sit together, plan together. I request you all to keep all controversies aside in 2021 and support Team India in 2022. I called Virat Kohli as soon as our selection meeting was over. I informed him that we want one white-ball captain. He agreed with us," he added.

Meanwhile, Rohit has not been able to recover in time for the South Africa ODIs and will thus not be leading the ODI squad. In his absence, KL Rahul has been named the captain of the white-ball contingent with Jasprit Bumrah named as the vice-captain. Earlier Rohit had only been ruled out of the Test matches with a call on his ODI selection deferred but with important tours lined up, as well as the T20 World Cup scheduled later this year, the selectors have deemed it best to not rush the Hitman's selection.