Robin Uthappa has stirred a fresh round of speculation about a possible rift inside the Indian cricket camp, particularly between head coach Gautam Gambhir and senior stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. His comments came after India’s 2-1 ODI series win over South Africa, where both veterans played crucial roles.
Rohit registered two half-centuries, while Kohli dominated with two hundreds and a fifty, earning the Player of the Series award. Despite their standout performances, Uthappa noted that Gambhir didn’t acknowledge them in the post-series press conference, something he found “strange.”
“What I found surprising is that after the series, in the press conference, I didn’t see Gautam giving credit to either Rohit or Virat,” Uthappa said on his YouTube channel. “Here are two guys who batted out of their skins and silenced every doubt about what they can still do for India. That felt strange to me.”
Rumours of tension between Gambhir and India’s senior players have been swirling ever since he took over as head coach in mid-2024. His stint has already seen big changes: Ravichandran Ashwin announced retirement, while Kohli and Rohit stepped away from Test cricket earlier this year, forcing the BCCI to quickly reshuffle plans for the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy.
The celebrated Ro-Ko pair is set to return next month for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand, beginning January 11 in Vadodara.
