'How would you solve Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma alleged rift?' One head coach candidate reportedly asked by CAC

The Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC), headed by former India World Cup winning skipper Kapil Dev, Anshuman Gaekwad and former India women's cricket team skipper Shantha Rangaswamy, were given the task of selecting India's next head coach after Virat Kohli's side crashed out of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 semi-final against New Zealand. There were certain parameters that the CAC had laid out in the selection criteria. They were coaching philosophy, Experience of coaching, Achievements in coaching, communication and knowledge of modern coaching tools. 

Ravi Shastri, who was the coach of the Indian cricket team ever since July 2017, was reappointed as the coach and his tenure will now continue till the 2021 World T20 in India. However, there was one unreported aspect of the CAC selection process which has recently come out in the public domain.

According to a report in the Mid Day, one candidate was reportedly asked by the CAC as to how he would potentially diffuse an 'alleged rift' between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. To this, the unnamed candidate replied, "I told the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) that there is no such fight and Virat has gone on record to deny this, so I don't know how to answer this question but I would have stepped in immediately and doused it. I wouldn't have allowed it to escalate. I would also involve the BCCI and keep them in the loop because I want a happy and healthy dressing room. If at all there was a rift why couldn't the present coach solve it?"

Prior to Shastri's appointment as coach, Kapil had agreed with his colleague Shantha Rangaswamy that skipper Virat Kohli's opinion "needs to be respected". The World Cup winning former skipper however assured that his panel will do their job to the best of their ability. Kohli during his pre-departure press conference didn't hide that he would love to see current head coach Ravi Shastri get another term. 

"That's his (Kohli) opinion we have to respect everybody's opinion," Kapil told reporters before receiving the 'Bharat Gaurav', East Bengal's highest honour during their foundation day celebrations at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. 

There were reports of an alleged rift between Kohli and Sharma post India's World Cup semifinal exit though the Indian captain rubbished them ahead of the team's departure to the United States on Monday. The 'rift' was built up to such an extent that there were regular reports in the media that Rohit had unfollowed Kohli on social media and vice-versa. There were stories of Anushka Sharma, Kohli's wife, taking a dig at Rohit through cryptic Instagram stories.  

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HIGHLIGHTS

• Virat Kohli smashed his 43rd ODI ton during the series against West Indies.
• Rohit Sharma became the leading six-hitter in Twenty20 Internationals.
• Ravi Shastri was reappointed as India head coach and his tenure will be till 2021.