Fact Check: Did R Ashwin Complain Against Captain Virat Kohli To BCCI?

Did senior Team India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin formally lodge a complaint against skipper Virat Kohli to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)?

An IANS report quoted sources as revealing that it was Ashwin who told the BCCI that the captain had made him feel insecure in the team.

The theory gained some credence as Kohli had mentioned after India’s loss in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand that some senior players showed a lack of intent. In the Test series that followed, there was no place in the playing XI for Ashwin despite there being a clamour for his inclusion from most experts, especially in the third and fourth Tests.

However, Ashwin on Thursday slammed the report as fake news.

“I am searching for the handle ‘fake news’, it used to be super fun for gossip. Oh Yaaaa!! Thank you guys. Found them: I just heard they renamed themselves and are now called IANS and some others take quotes from them too. Super fun,” Ashwin wrote on Instagram.

After Kohli announced that he would quit captaincy in T20 Internationals post the T20 World Cup, there were reports of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara also being unhappy with the captain’s style of functioning and that BCCI secretary Jay Shah had called them to seek their views.

BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal quashed all those reports as media rumours.

“The media must stop writing this rubbish. Let me say this on the record that no Indian cricketer has made any complaint to the BCCI – written or verbal. The BCCI can’t keep answering every false report that keeps appearing. The other day, we saw some reports saying there will be changes in India’s World Cup squad. Who said that?” Dhumal was quoted as saying by The Times of India.