Factions In Team India, Players Unhappy With Ravi Shastri: Report

Team India’s unexpected defeat in the World Cup semifinal is looking set to open the pandora’s box. Not many would have thought that India would lose to New Zealand after finishing the group stage at the top spot. While India had suffered just one defeat in the group stage, New Zealand had entered the semifinals on the back of three consecutive defeats.

But all those pre-match talks went up in smoke as New Zealand stunned their fancied opponents by 18 runs. India were looking favourites to win the game after restricting New Zealand to a modest 239 for 8. However, the score turned out to a winning one as New Zealand bowled out the Men in Blue for just 221.

Chasing 239, India were reeling at 5 for 3 and then 92 for 6. It looked all over for the Men in Blue at that stage before Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni joined hands to bail India out of trouble. The two went on to share a 116-run stand to revive India’s hopes.

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However, Jadeja fell in the 48th over and Dhoni followed him to the pavilion in the 49th as India were all out for 221. This was the second time in a row that India exited the World Cup at the semifinal stage. And the defeat is now looking set to cause some problems for Team India. A recent report has suggested that there might be a rift in the dressing room. A report in Dainik Jagran states that there are two factions in the team, one supporting skipper Virat Kohli and the other owing its allegiance to his deputy Rohit Sharma.

Not only that, the report also claims that there is bias in selection of players. The report states that only those part of ‘Virat Company’ or those who are performing consistently, like Rohit and Jasprit Bumrah, will get a chance of playing in the team. Quoting a member of the Indian team, the report further mentions that there is a strong bias towards KL Rahul. The report stated that the team supports Rahul even if he underperforms.

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The news outlet suggested that Ambati Rayudu could not make it to the World Cup squad because of his poor rapport with the captain. It further claimed that the team is unhappy with coach Ravi Shastri and bowling coach Bharat Arun and many want to see them go.