Is star spouse Anushka Sharma the cause for Virat Kohli-Rohit Sharma rift?

Five centuries in a single World Cup has changed it all for Rohit Sharma. From one who is struggling with his Test career to being the best in the shorter formats, India’s limited-overs vice-captain from Mumbai is suddenly looking to be the team’s leader in the coming days.

Having been one of the best friends in the Indian team’s dressing room, the rift between skipper Virat Kohli and Sharma has certainly come as a shock to many of the players and the officials.

And, the reason suspected for this rift is Kohli’s star spouse Anushka Sharma.

Initial reports during the Cricket World Cup in England was that Kohli was not keen to travel to the Caribbean islands, for which the team left on Mumbai night from Mumbai, as the tour is “bit easy and he wants a much-needed rest”.

Kohli’s decision soon changed soon after landing in India, perhaps because of the fact that Sharma scored a single World Cup-record five centuries and that the skipper could not score even one despite scoring five successive fifties.

DNA has reliably learnt that it all started in the WC because Sharma and other players felt that and the chief coach Ravi Shastri were taking unilateral decisions without taking them into confidence. The discontent within the team over selection of Vijay Shankar over Ambati Rayudu as the designated No. 4 was one such issue bothering everyone.

Kohli, though, hardly bothered about any such discontent and described the environment in the change room as “very friendly”. The backing by Committee of Administrators (COA) chief Vinod Rai was considered to be an overwhelming reason for his reassurance. That is what also was read inside the dressing room.

It was believed that’s why “no action was taken even after successive debacles under the two – after the fallout between Kohli and Anil Kumble in 2017, and the Test series losses in South Africa (1-2) and England (1-4).

It was when Sharma unfollowed Kohli’s wife Anushka on Instagram, having unfollowed the captain long ago that the rumours of a rift between the two surfaced, and the BCCI took notice of this. Kohli, though, continues to follow Sharma, but not his wife.

In this case, BCCI allowed wives of Indian cricketers to stay longer than what was decided earlier.

Initially, BCCI allowed wives to be with the players for 15 days during this World Cup. Sharma requested for an extension of stay for his wife and child. This request apparently was ignored by the BCCI, but then not conveyed to Indian opener. His wife stayed for the entire duration of the World Cup.

On the other hand, it has been alleged by many insiders that Anushka’s presence in the team hotel did create an uneasy atmosphere for many other wives. And, when a complaint reached BCCI as to how Kohli was only busy giving company to his actress-wife, it probably had not gone down well with the Indian skipper.

It was an obvious reaction, as one could say, that another complaint reached the BCCI stating that “Rohit’s wife and kid stayed without the permission of the captain and coach”.