Indian cricket is a separate universe in itself. The magic and mystery of the system are beautiful, enchanting, and secretive at the same time. Fans lap and adore Indian Cricketers unanimously. They build superstars out of them, At times the cricketers unknown to them start believing that they are bigger than the game. This leads to the development of big egos. The moment there are many such superstar egos in the same dressing room, it leads to conflicts. Indian cricket has suffered many times owing to such rivalries, lets see some of Dressing Room Rivalries That Hurt Indian Cricket.
We look at 5 such dressing room rivalries that hurt Indian cricket:
#5 Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni
Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni were the best of buddies before MS Dhoni became the captain. Sehwag in fact enjoyed Dhoni’s knock of 183 sitting in the stands. But Sehwag it appeared wasn’t quite impressed with Dhoni being nominated the captain.
Sehwag mysteriously didn’t play the inaugural T20 World Cup final. Their fractured relationship has often shown cracks since then. Sehwag not being fit for the T20 World Cup in 2009 raised further eyebrows. Dhoni questioning his fitness and Sehwag retorting in public led to a bitter fallout between the two.
#4 Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev
Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev were the two strong pillars of Indian cricket. They charted India’s success in the 80s. Dev led the team to the World Cup win in 1983 while Gavaskar led India to the 1985 world championship win. But the duo’s relationship was at best mixed.
The major blame was also down to the selectors handling the situation. They used to interchangeably appoint them as captains. This often sent out mixed signals to the duo. It wasn’t a great phase for Indian cricket with two legends at the helm.
#3 Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar
If the 80s was about the Gavaskar-Dev power struggle, it was even worse in the 90s. Mohammad Azharuddin and Sachin Tendulkar were at the center of the issue in this decade. They both were appointed captains almost always alternatively.
The selectors dropped one and anointed other the leader just after a single bad series. Azhar in midst of this chaos led India in all the 3 World Cups that happened in the 90s. Sachin on the other hand was flabbergasted when Azhar’s name cropped up in the match-fixing fiasco. It was a dark phase in Indian cricket.
#2 Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid hold two of the most important positions in Indian cricket currently. Ganguly is the BCCI president while Dravid is the head coach of the team. The duo previously were also big power wielders in the system when Ganguly was the captain and Dravid was the vice-captain. It felt that this was possibly the best captain-deputy duo ever.
But things changed overnight with the appointment of Greg Chappell as the coach. Chappell wanted Ganguly out from the side. The selectors obliged. Dravid was appointed the captain. This episode damaged their relationship beyond repair until the 2007 ODI World Cup debacle.
#1 Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma
It is quite arguably the most unsurprising pair on this list. Virat Kohli was a self-admitted Rohit Sharma fan until things started going down south. The duo were not just great friends but batted beautifully together. They orchestrated many great wins in the previous decade. But the rift started developing when Rohit expressed his displeasure at being dropped from the Tests in 2018 in England.
The gap further widened when India made a heartbreaking exit in the 2019 ODI World Cup semifinals. Sharma it appeared didn’t agree with a few of the decisions made in the tournament. Rohit’s absence from the initial part of the Australia tour irked Kohli no end. The appointment of Rohit Sharma as white-ball captain couldn’t have come at a more crucial juncture in their relationship. It either could go all bust or they might have left room for some boom!
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