Kohli distances himself and team from the remarks of Pandya, Rahul

Virat Kohli terms the remarks of Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul as inappropriate — Virat Kohli terms the remarks of Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul as

Sydney, January 11: Virat Kohli distanced himself from the comments made by Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul on TV show Koffee With Karan, terming them "inappropriate" and said the words did not reflect team spirit within in the Indian team. Kohli was speaking to reporters ahead of the first ODI against Australia here on Saturday (January 12).

"We, definitely, as the Indian cricket team do not support views like that and that has been communicated," Kohli said ahead of the first ODI here. "I can definitely say that as the Indian cricket team and responsible cricketers we definitely don't align with those views and those are purely individual views.

PANDYA, RAHUL IN THE DOCK PANDYA, RAHUL IN THE DOCK

"From the Indian cricket team point of view, any inappropriate comments that are made in that scenario are something that we definitely don't support and the two concerned players felt what has gone wrong and they have understood the magnitude of what's happened. Definitely, it has to hit anyone hard, they will definitely understand the things that have not gone right."

Pandya and Rahul face the prospect of two-match ban after CoA chief Vinod Rai on Thursday (January 10) recommended the measure against the two players.

"We are still waiting for a decision to be made but from the Indian cricket team point of view this changes nothing in terms of our beliefs in the change room. It does nothing to the spirit that we've been able to create within the change room and these are purely individual opinions and something as I said which is inappropriate," said Kohli.

In case Pandya and Rahul are unavailable, India will have to revise its team combination because of the balance Pandya provides as a pace-bowling all-rounder he is a walk-in to the eleven.

"From the combination and team balance point of view, yes, you'll have to think about the combination you'll need now," Kohli said. "You don't have control over these things so you have to address it the way it unfolds. That's how we are looking at it, the combinations will have to be looked at when the decision comes out and from there on we'll see what needs to be done about the whole situation."