Rohit Sharma is one of the most popular players in the Indian side, while he has been phenomenal for Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Mumbai Indians (MI). Since 2013, he has won four titles with them as the captain, which is the most by any captain, or a side, in the tournament's history.
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Owing to this very success, he has gained immense popularity in Indian cricket. However, despite all of this, he has a knack of embroiling himself in controversies, mostly off the pitch.
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From Virat Kohli to KL Rahul, Rohit has created controversies mostly because of his activities on social media, which were slammed by the critics. On the same note, we take a look at five of his biggest social-media disputes.
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Unfollowing Kohli on Twitter: It was following India's semi-final exit against New Zealand in the 2019 ICC World Cup, there were reports of a rift between him and Kohli. While these reports were squashed by Kohli himself, a fresh report emerged that Rohit had unfollowed the former on Twitter. This certainly did add fuel to the controversy of their rift, but nothing concrete emerged, as both have denied against having any and the issue faded out.
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Unfollowing Anuska Sharma on Instagram: After he had unfollowed Kohli on Twitter, next was the latter's wife, Anushka Sharma, who was unfollowed by the former on Instagram. Although no reason was given by any as to what led to it, this once again fuelled stories of the rift between him and Kohli. Later, Anushka posted a cryptic Insta story, which read, “A wise man once said nothing. Only truth can shake hands with silence in a mess of false appearances.”
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Liking a tweet against Anushka: The story of his rift against Kohli started since 2018 after Rohit had once liked a tweet that was against Anushka. It was during the tour of England. While Rohit was not a part of the tour, Anushka was seen along with the Indian team and support staff during their visit to the High Commissioner of India in London. A user posted, saying, “@ImRo45 void is filled up by @AnushkaSharma ???? I believe WAG’s are not allowed till 3rd test. Different rules for different players!”, as Rohit liked this tweet, while he also liked another one that stated, “Rohit Sharma averages 58.19, batting at no 6 in tests. That is more than any batsman playing currently in the world”.
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Liking a tweet against KL Rahul: Apparently, Rohit's rift in the side was not just restricted to Kohli, but also extended to fellow opener KL Rahul. It was following the 2019 World Cup, Rohit was expected to pay the Tests in Windies. And, despite Rohit performing better in the warm-ups, Kohli chose Rahul over the former. Meanwhile, Rahul underperformed in both the Tests, as an unimpressed Rohit liked a tweet, which stated that the former was over-rated.
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‘I don’t just walk out for my team. I walk out for my country.’: Following the 2019 World Cup, as the Indian team was about to leave for the Windies, Kohli dismissed reports of any rift between him and Rohit, terming the reports as baseless. Shortly after, Rohit posted a tweet, saying, ‘I don’t just walk out for my team. I walk out for my country.’ Although it seemed like a patriotic tweet, it did add fuel to the controversy, once again.
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