'Saw it between Gavaskar-Kapil and Tendulkar-Ganguly’: BCCI official on Rohit Sharma vs Virat Kohli debate

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Treasurer Arun Dhumal shared his thoughts on the reports about rifts between two of the most prominent India batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, stating that the team management is not bothered by such reports. It is a well-known fact that Virat Kohli and Captain Rohit Sharma are two of the greatest cricketers of the modern era and their contributions to Indian cricket speak for themselves. While Kohli, who was once known as the ‘run machine’, has numerous of records to his name, Rohit has been a run-scorer across formats and stamped his authority in the game of cricket with his consistent performances and even with his captaincy. Notably, the duo enjoys a massive fan following on social media. But, the fans of Kohli and Rohit are not always in a friendly mode as they are often witnessed debating over who is better amongst the two. Moreover, there have been multiple reports claiming rift between the two India batters, which adds fuel to the flames. [caption id=“attachment_8448831” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  The duo has times and again backed each other in media interactions, whenever asked about the other’s form.[/caption] Meanwhile, the BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal has made it clear that such debates and chatter doesn’t hold much substance for Team India management. “We never think about it. It is the passion of fans that drives them and this debate. When you are attached to an emotion, then you tend to say all that. And social media is a platform where you can talk about anything. They speak their heart out because there are no restrictions. That is why people think it persists,” Dhumal told veteran journalist Vimal Kumar on his YouTube channel. Dhumal also said that the Kohli vs Rohit debate is not the first occasion in Indian cricket that has speculated about an alleged rift between the two star players, but this has been happening for decades which also involved Sunil Gavaskar-Kapil Dev and Sachin Tendulkar - Sourav Ganguly as topics of discussion. “We saw the same with Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, or later between Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar. On social media, matters amplify to an extent that people believe all this is true,” he added. Moreover, Dhumal revealed that quitting India captaincy was purely Kohli’s decision. “As far as the issue of captaincy is concerned, it was his call. He decided that mujhe ab nahi karni hai captaincy (I don’t want to captain now). It is possible that someone feels it’s best to do it after the World Cup but that is their point of view. But he wanted to quit, and it was purely his decision. And we respected it. See he has contributed so much to Indian cricket that everyone in the cricket board respects him. We would like to see Virat in action on the ground," Dhumal said. Talking about the conspiracy theories regarding how Kohli was dropped from Team India, Dhumal asserted that no one could have misbehaved with the star India batter as he is not a ‘simple’ player. “See… as far as Virat is concerned, he is not a simple player. He is great and his contribution to Indian cricket is unparalleled. It is outstanding. So, such conversations (that board is trying to sideline Kohli) keep taking place in the media and it does not affect us. We want that he returns to form soon, and as far as team selection is concerned, we leave it to selectors. It is their call as to how they want to go about it,” Dhumal added. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.