Even IF there's a cold war between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, so what?

Social media can be a funny place. Even a simple 'unfollow' gets followed by millions who then dissect it minutely to come up with their own interpretations of it.

And so, when a story surfaced of a possible cold war brewing between two of Indian cricket's biggest modern-day stars — captain Virat Kohli and limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma — due to the latter unfollowing Kohli's wife Anushka Sharma on Instagram, social media went into a frenzy.

Such was its impact coming post India's World Cup semifinal exit that even Committee of Administrators chief Vinod Rai felt the need to react to it, dismissing it as media speculation.

And while it makes for amazingly juicy table-talk, the point is: even if there is a so-called rift between Kohli and Sharma, so what?

The world of cricket is filled with examples of teammates not being the best of friends off the field, yet not letting that come in the way of delivering for the team once they walk into the park.

TEAM TO LEAVE TODAY

Team India will depart for USA on Monday for its series against West Indies. Captain Virat Kohli will address the press before leaving.

And we're not just talking about any team, we're talking about champion cricket teams of the past.

Shane Warne revealed how his relationship with captain Steve Waugh broke down during the 1999 West Indies series, when Waugh — in his first series as Test skipper — wanted to drop the legendary leg-spinner from the playing XI.

In his autobiography No Spin, Warne has even labelled Waugh as selfish. "Steve Waugh was the most selfish player I ever played with and was only worried about averaging 50. It was about a lack of loyalty. Pretty childish, I know, but that's the way it was," Warne has written.

Despite the clear bad blood between the then Aussie leader and his deputy in the longest format, Warne picked up 175 of his 708 Test wickets while playing 38 matches under Waugh as Australia hammered one team after another in their cricket's greatest phase.

Then there's the example of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, two of the world's most cherished fast bowlers who combined to rattle Pakistan's opposition with pace, accuracy, swing, and, oh, the reverse.

And, it would be fair to say that the two wouldn't quite fancy having dinner together after making a meal of many a hapless batsman.

"Yeah, we had issues," Waqar was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo in 2016 after the duo retired. "He (Akram) didn't only have issues with me but we had issues in the team those days, which yes, if you ask me the truth, I do regret at times because it did not really help Pakistan cricket.

"But then again if you look at it, we had issues off the field but when we walked on to the field it was different ball game altogether," he added.

Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes, arguably the most dangerous opening pair in Test cricket, wouldn't really have a drink with each other in a bar in Barbados despite living in the same island. That said, the two laid the foundation of the fearsome Windies side of the 1980s that no team was comfortable battling with.

Yes, there's no denying that Kohli and Sharma are both like chalk and cheese as cricketers as well as personalities, and have constrasting styles of leadership.

While Kohli swears by the horses for courses mantra wherein continuity with regards to players is the last thing on the mind, Sharma, in the limited opportunities that he has got to lead India in Kohli's absence, has insisted upon backing players and providing them assurances of a long rope.

Why, earlier this year in the ODI series against Australia, the vice-captain had openly expressed a differing view from that of his skipper. Sharma said he personally believed MS Dhoni should be India's No. 4 batsman in the 50-overs format at a time when Kohli had backed Ambati Rayudu for the job leading up to the World Cup, only to eventually lose faith in him come the tournament.

And yet, whatever discord they might have, the Kohli-Sharma duo is blockbuster in the theatre of cricket.

The two have combined to notch up 17 hundred-run stands in ODIs, the third-most by any pair in the format. They've accumulated 4,658 runs in 76 innings at an average of 65.60 batting together, sitting at eighth spot in the list of highest partnership runs by a pair in 50 overs.

Any team — be it in the sporting world or the corporate world — is bound to have differences of opinion and members who aren't exactly best buddies outside of their workspace. But, as long as there is mutual respect for each other as professionals and it doesn't have an adverse impact on the performance as individuals and as a team, it really isn't that big a deal.