Ravi Shastri's role in ending 2-year-old Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma 'Cold War' revealed

Indian captain Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are two of the leading cricketers in the country, who have been the face of the country's cricket for almost a decade. Over the last few years, there have been several reports alleging that things between the duo aren't exactly smooth, something which has stirred a lot of controversies on numerous occasions. However, new reports have emerged which state that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have buried the hatchet and moved on.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma bury hatchet and move on, Ravi Shastri plays crucial role

A source close to the BCCI told News18 that that a great deal of personal bonding has happened in recent weeks. The two leading men of Indian cricket are more in sync now than ever with regards to their cricket, the team, their responsibilities, and the upcoming challenges. He added that that the quarantine time has allowed the duo time to sit down and sort out the differences. 

The source further said that all the chatter from the outside was causing too much bitterness and all the hearsay was making things worse. He reckoned that like all professionals, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma too would have disagreements from time to time but until recently, they never thought of sitting down and talking it out with the kind of clarity that is now visible. The BCCI source revealed that during the recently concluded ODI series against England, Virat Kohli made it a point to keep his discussions on with Rohit Sharma constantly during the game. According to him, these things would happen earlier too but this time they decided to make it more visible for outsiders to know that all this chatter now needs to stop.

The source opined that the duo has spent a lot of time talking to each other in public, like during the post-match presentation at the end of the T20 series. He reiterated that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been appearing in photographs together a lot more than in the past to put an end to all the chatter. It has also been revealed that Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has been instrumental in bringing the two cricketers back together and improving their relationship, being the mediator and naturally, the head of the team's functioning in the bio-bubble. It is also believed that Shastri was the key in letting Rohit Sharma arrive later than the rest of the squads on the Australian tour as the Mumbai Indians captain was not available due to personal reasons, despite Virat Kohli not being pleased back then with the communication amongst the concerned parties.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's camaraderie was on display in the entire England's tour of India 2021. The two cricketers were seen involved in discussions during the game, as well as, after the matches. They were also seen celebrating together on several instances. Moreover, after the win in the first ODI, when team India was celebrating in the team hotel, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were photographed together where the Indian captain was seen embracing the Indian opener. The duo sorting out their differences and being on the same page is certainly good news for Indian cricket.

Meanwhile, the Virat Kohli RCB captain record will be put to test this season as well as RCB will now lock horns with the Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians team 2021 in the IPL opener. According to the IPL 2021 schedule, defending champions Mumbai Indians team 2021 will take on RCB team 2021 in the opening match of IPL 2021 on April 9 in Chennai. Notably, the IPL 2021 schedule has been laid out differently than usual as the Governing Council decided to take away the home advantage by conducting matches at neutral venues to reduce travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

SOURCE: BCCI TWITTER/ BCCI.TV