Virat Kohli keeps dressing room door open to receive Rohit Sharma after the centurion returns to pavilion

After the ICC World Cup got over, there were reports of serious friction in the Indian dressing room between two factions – one under captain Virat Kohli and another led by vice-captain Rohit Sharma. Although the players, as well as the authorities, tried to bury the rumours but they refused to die down easily. There were even talks that the captaincy would be split with Kohli leading in the longer format and Rohit in the shorter formats.

On Thursday, Team India strongly sent across the message that all is well with the dressing room. Rohit, who made a comeback to the Indian Test team after nine months, slammed 176 in 244 balls at a strike-rate of 72 plus to give a much-needed boost to his dying prospects in red-ball cricket.

Rohit’s exploits in the longer format have never matched those in the limited-overs and as the opportunities slipped, he rose to the occasion timely. It is true that the exclusion of KL Rahul helped his cause but nonetheless, he made full utilization of the chance.

And the way the dashing batsman was welcomed in the dressing room, it only gave the signal that everything was fine. Captain Kohli personally kept the glass door of the pavilion at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam open to receive Rohit when the latter returned after getting out. Head coach Ravi Shastri, batting coach Vikram Rathour and others too clapped to acknowledge Rohit’s feat and Kohli closed the door only after Rohit entered the dressing room and patted him on his back.

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India reduce SA to 39 for 3 at stumps

Rohit and Mayank Agarwal, who hit a double hundred (215) in the first Test that he played at home, put India in the driver’s seat in the first Test by putting up 317 runs for the first wicket. India’s spinners then came into the party to pick three South African wickets to leave them reeling at 39 for 3 at stumps on Day 2.

Faf du Plessis’ team now has a mountain to climb even to save this game as they need another 464 runs to save the follow-on. Ravichandran Ashwin took two wickets while Ravindra Jadeja took the other.

Watch: 5 Times when Virat Kohli was trolled by Indian fans