Captain Virat Kohli on Monday brushed aside reports of a rift between him and Rohit Sharma as “ridiculous and baffling” and insisted that India wouldn’t be the successful team they are if not for the camaraderie and understanding in the dressing room.

Whispers that all was not well between the skipper and his deputy had been doing the rounds after India’s World Cup semi-final loss to New Zealand. The speculation intensified after recent reports that Rohit had “unfollowed” Kohli and his actress-wife Anushka Sharma on Instagram.

Kohli on Monday said bringing in personal lives was disrespectful.

“In my opinion, it’s baffling. It’s absolutely ridiculous to read such stuff,” he told reporters at a news conference in Mumbai ahead of the team’s departure for the West Indies.

“I’ve been to few public events. Everyone comes up and says we have respect for you… And here we are feeding off lies and overlooking facts. We are turning a blind eye to all the good things that have happened and creating fantasies and scenarios in our heads, and want to accept that this is the truth.

“I’ve seen this for too long now, bringing personal lives into the picture. It’s disrespectful beyond a point, honestly. I’ve played the game for 11 years, Rohit has played for 10 years. It’s bizarre that people are creating this stuff on the outside. You guys come to the change room and see, we can’t make videos and show you guys.

“It baffles you as a leader, coach and a team when lies are being floated around. They are made to look like they are believable. It’s disrespectful,” Kohli said.

The captain said it was time for everyone to focus on Indian cricket and not on “things that don’t exist”.

“I’m the kind of person who, if I don’t like a person or insecure about him, you’ll see it on my face or in my behaviour towards that person. That’s how simple it is,” he said.

“I have always praised Rohit at every opportunity because I believe he is that good. We have had no issues. As I said it’s baffling. I don’t know who is benefitting from all these stories. We are living, breathing, living and working towards taking Indian cricket to the top.

“And then people want to get some kind of pleasure in bringing it down. I don’t understand how that works. You work hard for four years to bring a team from seven to one, and after four years what are we talking about.

“Within the team, it’s there for everyone to see… the friendship and camaraderie. It’s baffling and ridiculous to read such stuff. It’s time we focus on taking Indian cricket forward and not on things that are not even there.”

Head coach Ravi Shastri too dismissed such rumours.

“The way this team plays, no individual is bigger than the game. The way they play is in the interest of the team. You cannot have the kind of consistency across all formats if you have rifts or divisions or whatever. It is not possible. I’ve been a part of that dressing room for some time, and none of that nonsense is there.”

Kohli made it clear that he is in favour of Shastri continuing as the team’s head coach. The current support staff (Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun, batting coach Sanjay Bangar and fielding coach R. Sridhar) were given a 45-day extension following the World Cup.

“Well, the CAC (Cricket Advisory Committee headed by Kapil Dev) has not contacted me on this. But all of us share a great camaraderie with Ravi bhai and would definitely be very happy (to have him around),” Kohli said.

“But as I had said, it’s on the CAC to decide (how to go about it).”

Kohli said that it was disappointing the way the World Cup ended but that they will have to move forward and regroup.

“It’s an important time for the team to regroup. I know we were all very disappointed with not going into the World Cup final, but we have to move on.”

Shastri echoed Kohli’s views. “Winning the World Cup would’ve been the icing on the cake, but that takes nothing away from the boys’ performance,” the head coach added.

Kohli said he is looking forward to the three T20Is against West Indies since they will get a chance to introduce some fresh faces into the team.

“The ODI side is more or less balanced. I’m particularly excited about the first three T20Is. Some youngsters have shown great composure in tournaments such as the IPL and other domestic cricket.”

The inclusion of Rohit in the squad for the two Tests raised a few eyebrows but Kohli backed him.

“We chose him (Rohit) over Jinx (Ajinkya Rahane, for the South Africa Test series) because of the way he was playing. But Jinx is a solid player as well.

“We’ve all seen the impact he can make with the slip catching and everything,” the skipper said.