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Team India captain Rohit Sharma is one of the most adored cricketers in the country. His achievements speak volumes of his success in international cricket. He is the only batter to have notched up three double hundreds in ODIs. The Hitman also holds the record for smashing the most tons in T20Is (four).
Rohit also achieved a couple of big records as captain recently. He became the first skipper to win 13 consecutive T20Is after Team India beat England in the first match of the series in Southampton.
He extended the streak to 14 by leading the Men in Blue to victory in the second T20I. His winning run as leader ended when India lost the third and final T20I of the series. The 35-year-old also claimed the record for the most sixes by an Indian captain in T20Is (60) during the third match against West Indies in St Kitts.
While the Indian skipper has mostly made news for cricketing reasons, he has had his share of controversies over the years. In this feature, we look back at five instances where Rohit found himself at the center of a controversy.
#1 A potential bio-bubble breach
India’s tour of Australia in 2020-21 took place under bio-bubble restrictions as the threat of COVID-19 was very much around. Having recovered from a hamstring injury, Rohit joined the team for the last two Test matches of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
During the tour, the cricketer made headlines for the wrong reasons after visiting a restaurant with teammates Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant and Navdeep Saini in Melbourne on New Year’s Day.
A fan posted a video of the cricketers at the restaurant and the incident soon went viral on social media. The players were criticized for potentially breaching the bio-bubble.
There were reports that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Cricket Australia (CA) would review the incident. However, the Indian cricket board dismissed the reports and also rubbished all claims of a bio-bubble breach.
#2 When Hitman liked a post that took a dig at KL Rahul
Rohit had a sensational 2019 ODI World Cup, amassing 648 runs in nine matches at an average of 81 and a strike rate of 98.33. He also smashed five hundreds, the most by any cricketer in a single edition of the World Cup.
Despite his stellar showing, the batter did not feature in the two Test matches during the tour of West Indies. KL Rahul was preferred above him in both Tests. Unhappy Rohit fans shared a post on social media, drawing a comparison between Rohit and Rahul’s Test performances.
The post took a dig at Rahul, claiming that despite him averaging 35 in Tests, many Indians felt he was like Sir Don Bradman.
What grabbed eyeballs was the fact that Rohit liked the post, an indication that he was perhaps frustrated at being left out of the team for the Tests.
#3 When Rohit unfollowed Virushka
At the height of the alleged Rohit-Virat Kohli fallout in 2019, Hitman raised eyebrows when he unfollowed Kohli on Instagram. That’s not all, he later unfollowed Anushka Sharma as well to fuel speculation even further.
While Kohli did not respond, Anushka shared a cryptic post that was believed to be a response to Rohit’s decision of unfollowing her and the then Indian cricket captain. Her post read:
“A wise man once said Nothing. Only truth can shake hands with silence in a mess of false appearances…”
#4 When Rohit liked a tweet criticizing Anushka
A massive controversy erupted during India’s 2018 tour of England. The Indian team paid a visit to the Indian High Commission in London. BCCI shared an image of the same on their official Twitter handle.
Many were critical of Anushka as she was seen in the front row with husband and then-captain Kohli. Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane was standing at the back and his face was hardly visible in the snap.
Rohit, who wasn’t a part of the squad for the tour, again invited controversy by liking a tweet that hit out at Anushka. The post went as follows:
“@ImRo45 void is filled up by @AnushkaSharma ???? I believe WAG’s are not allowed till 3rd test. Different rules for different players!”
He subsequently liked another tweet that called for his inclusion in the Test squad.
#5 Rohit’s viral tweet amid reports of rift with Kohli
Ahead of Team India’s departure for the 2019 West Indies tour, then-skipper Kohli hit out at those reporting a rift between him and Rohit.
Dismissing all the claims, he shot back:
“I have been to public events where we have been praised and here we are feeding off lies, overlooking facts, turning a blind eye to all good things that happened and creating fantasies and scenarios in our head."
He also termed the controversy theories as “disrespectful to the players' personal lives.”
However, Rohit reignited the controversy by sharing a cryptic post which read:
“I don’t just walk out for my Team. I walk out for my country.”
Cut to the present, Rohit has taken over as captain from Kohli. However, rumors of all not being well between the two haven’t stopped doing the rounds. To their credit, the duo have consistently backed each other in the open.
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