Sunil Gavaskar lambasts media reports alleging a possible ‘rift’ between Rohit-Virat

Legendary Indian cricketer and commentator Sunil Gavaskar has slammed media reports alleging a possible 'rift' between skipper Rohit Sharma and ex-captain Virat Kohli.

In the past 10-12 months, speculations about an alleged rift between the two legendary Indian cricketers has been rife in the media. The speculations reached a boiling point in the last 2 months with Rohit taking over from Virat in white-ball cricket.

Sunday's fixture against the West Indies was the first time Virat played under Rohit and the camaraderie between the duo was quite evident. During the West Indies innings, Virat even convinced Rohit to challenge the on-field call after a leg-break from Yuzvendra Chahal took the outside edge of Shamarh Brooks' bat.

After the match, the anchor of host broadcaster Star Sports touched on the same subject during a conversation with Gavaskar.

In reply, Gavaskar lashed out at the media, stating that all the speculations regarding the alleged rift between the superstar duo are baseless, devoid of facts.

He said, "Why wouldn't they be getting along? They are playing for India. All these talks that you generally hear about two players, not gelling etc are all speculations, according to reliable sources or allegedly or reportedly. Nobody actually tells you and this has been happening for years. You wouldn't even bother about these kinds of speculations because you yourself know what the truth is and so there is nothing,"

Gavaskar also went on to slam people who have been alleging that Kohli does not want to play under new captain Rohit.

"There are often speculations that the captain who is now a player in the team will not want the new captain to succeed. This is nonsense. Because if he doesn't score runs or a bowler doesn't pick wickets then he is going to be out of the team. He has already lost the captaincy or opted out of captaincy, now you don't contribute with the bat or ball then you are going to be out of the team. So all these talks are mere speculations from people who have nothing better to do and are trying and creating stories,” said the legendary opener.

He signed off by throwing weight on support behind Virat, who endured a poor outing (8 off 4 deliveries) in the first ODI.

"So don't you worry. Today, Kohli didn't get runs but he will get runs whether he is playing under Rohit Sharma or any other captain.” he signed off.

Coming back to the first ODI, the Indian bowlers laid the cornerstone for a six-wicket win, with Prasidh Krishna and Mohammed Siraj providing early wickets before the spin combination of Chahal and Washington Sundar ran riot to pick 7 wickets between them.

With the bat, India got off to a blazing start, thanks to a quickfire half-century from Sharma (60 off 51 deliveries) but they will rue the fact that their batsmen failed to convert their starts into a big knock, something that has been a real issue for India in the past two years.

The second ODI will offer them a chance to rectify that. It will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 09.