Nobody bigger than sport: Indian sports minister on Kohli-Sharma 'rift'

A DAY after former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin tweeted about the alleged rift between Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma over the country’s split captaincy, Indian sports minister Anurag Thakur said no player is bigger than the game.

Kohli reportedly sought a break from the one-day international matches in South Africa next month after Sharma was ruled out of the Test series starting later this month due to hamstring injury. Kohli is the captain in Tests while Sharma was recently given the leadership in the white-ball formats.

ALSO READ: Am available for South Africa one-day series: Kohli

Rohit Sharma (R) and Virat Kohli during a partnership in a cricket match. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

The Test captain, however, cleared the air in a press conference on Wednesday (15) saying he was available to play in the white-ball series.

Rohit Sharma ruled out of South Africa Test series

In his tweet, Azharuddin said, “Virat Kohli has informed that he’s not available for the ODI series and Rohit Sharma is unavailable for the upcoming test.

There is no harm in taking a break but the timing has to be better. This just substantiates speculation about the rift. Neither will be giving up the other form of cricket.”

When Thakur was asked about the alleged rift between the two ace batters, he said, “Sports is supreme and nobody is bigger than sport. I can’t you give information as to what’s going on between which players in what game. It’s the job of concerned federations/associations. It’ll be better if they give info.”

On Tuesday, former India cricketer-turned-politician Kirti Azad said the national team will eventually suffer and cricket will take a hit if Kohli and Sharma decide to not play together.

While Kohli stepped down from captaincy in the T20 format at the end of the World Cup last month, he was replaced with Sharma in the 50-over format last week.