Grudges in the Indian team?

Since MS Dhoni handed the captaincy to Virat Kohli he got everything he needed.  The coach of his choice, the management, players  etc and yet when it came to winning the World Cup, Virat Kohli could not live up to expectations.

India's 5th consecutive defeat in ICC Knockouts

Clearly, the captain had instilled certain ethics in the team. Fitness. Yo-yo tests. And yes, India won several series. But what's the use if all those efforts do not translate into success in a World Cup.

Virat Kohli was given everything he wanted. After Anil Kumble stepped down following a rift with the skipper, Kohli wanted Ravi Shastri. And he got it. Wives on tour. Kohli was granted his wish. Give the captain what he wants. Ravi Shastri, after he took over as coach, said Virat Kohli was the boss.

In fact Virat Kohli is yet to win a major trophy in limited-overs cricket. While Kohli rested, Rohit led India to triumph in the Nidahas Trophy and Asia Cup. Virat Kohli even struggled in the Indian Premier League. While Rohit Sharma has 4 titles for Mumbai Indians, Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore regularly finish at the bottom. In the IPL, Kohli looks clueless in the face of opposition assault.

After the consecutive semi final loss against New Zealand many questions were raised on the decisions that were taken especially by the Captain and Coach.

Reports suggest that Kohli-led Men in Blue are miffed with the Skipper and coach Ravi Shastri’s “unilateral decisions”. Team India captain and ace batsman Virat Kohli and Head Coach Ravi Shastri apparently take unilateral decisions, without taking others into confidence, thus creating an atmosphere of discord, leaving the team divided.

While hitman Rohit Sharma and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah are indispensable with their consistent performances across formats, others fortunes dangle at the hands of favoritism. Those in the 'Virat Company' get preference in the team selection, over the other one loyal to Rohit, the report stated.

Further, quoting a member of the Indian team, the report mentioned that there is a strong bias towards KL Rahul, who is backed by the team management despite his inconsistent performance. Also, the player reportedly said that Yuzvendra Chahal, who is part of Kohli-led Royal Challengers Bengaluru, is preferred over Kuldeep Yadav, when the situation demands to drop either of the two wrist spinners. It was reportedly quoted that Rayadu was never in the Captain's scheme of things and he was awaiting some dip in performance resulting in exclusion from the squad.

Ravindra Jadeja with his game changing performance in the semi final clash also faced the wrath of favoritism. Reports claim that Captain does not fancy long rope for Jadeja even after his good performances. Those with Kohli's good books tend to have longer ropes.

And this is not the first time the rumour's of Favoritism have leaked. KL Rahul even after low string of performances on the tour of South Africa and England was given longer rope due to Captain's Favoritism.

Strange.. despite such a low performance & poor form..K L Rahul still makes to the ODI squad.#poorselection @BCCI

— Abhishek Pandey (@loveabhi86) December 24, 2018

Former Indian Test cricketer Wasim Jaffer expressed his wish that opening batsman Rohit Sharma should lead India in the white-ball formats.

Taking to Twitter, Jaffer first asked whether the time was right to hand over the ODI and T20I captaincy to Rohit Sharma before expressing his desire to see the latter leading the team when India hosts the next World Cup in 2023.

Is it time to hand over white ball captaincy to Rohit Sharma?
I would like him to lead India in 2023 World Cup🏆

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) July 12, 2019

What makes Rohit's case even stronger is the fact that he has lead his Indian Premier League (IPL) side Mumbai Indians to 3 IPL titles while Kohli is yet to lift the trophy even once with his long-time franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore.