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Resentment in Team India? Players not happy with Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastri's autocracy: Reports

As per a report published in leading Hindi daily 'Dainik Jagran', some players have revealed that the captain and coach show favouritism as players of their choice.

Resentment in Team India? Players not happy with Virat Kohli-Ravi Shastris autocracy: Reports

New Delhi, July 12: Team India's exit following defeat to New Zealand in the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup has opened a can of worms. New Zealand defeated India by 18 runs at Old Trafford to enter the final.

India's strategy in the all-important semifinal match faced massive criticism as they failed terribly in a low run chase of 240. India's top-three Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul were dismissed after scoring just 1 run each.

As per a report published in leading Hindi daily 'Dainik Jagran', some players have revealed that the captain and coach show favouritism as players of their choice or the likes of Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah, who are irreplaceable, make it to the Playing XI.

Team divided into factions

Team divided into factions

The report further claims that the team is divided into two factions: one is led by captain Kohli and the second is led by vice-captain Rohit. However, the difference among teammates hasn't taken the shape of animosity and nobody openly opposes each other.

There have been instances in the past when Rohit has shown his resentment towards Kohli's decisions. But nothing serious has come to the fore till date that substantiates that all is not well within Team India.

Captain picks his favourite players in the Playing XI

Captain picks his favourite players in the Playing XI

Some players even went on saying that KL Rahul, who is in the good books of captain Kohli, will keep on getting opportunities despite failing on multiple occasions but it isn't the case with others.

Rahul automatically gets an opportunity in the Playing XI whether as an opener or at No. 4. And in the worst-case scenario, the Karnataka-batsman would definitely feature in the 15-member squad.

The players even lamented that Yuzvendra Chahal is the captain's first-choice wrist-spinner no matter how good or bad he has performed in his previous match. Chahal plays under Kohli for his IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore, hence the favour.

'Rayudu was never in the captain's scheme of things'

'Rayudu was never in the captain's scheme of things'

The players also stated that Ambati Rayudu failing to get the WC berth was on the expected lines because he was never in the captain's scheme of things. The captain was waiting for Rayudu to hit a lean patch so that he could be shown the doors. As soon as he produced back-to-back poor results with the bat, the Hyderabad cricketer was axed.

The report goes on to claim that Rayudu's '3D glasses' comment after not being picked in the WC squad was aimed at the captain, the coach and the selectors. The report claims that the 33-year-old was badly hurt after he wasn't picked up as Vijay Shankar's replacement forced him to announce his retirement.

Story first published: Sunday, July 14, 2019, 15:42 [IST]
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