Kohli Breaks Silence On Anushka-Engineer Row, Says Rumours About Wife Are 'Agenda Driven'

I don't know why or what for, but to accept lies in that manner, it could not be anything else but agenda driven," Kohli told India Today.

India captain Virat Kohli has eventually broken his long term silence over the recent controversy surrounding his wife Anushka Sharma which was fueled over remarks made by former Indian skipper Farokh Engineer. The Indian skipper condemned all the criticism and trolls levied against head coach Ravi Shastri. The relations between the pair has often fueled speculation and indications that Shastri has the upper hand over Kohli involving various major aspects of the Indian team. Kohli also said that these conversations, alongwith rumours that are often spread about his wife and Bollywood star Anushka Sharma, are all "agenda-driven". There was a huge outrage when former Indian cricket Farokh Engineer was quoted as saying that he saw an Indian selector serve tea to Virat Kohli’s wife and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma during ICC World Cup 2019. Anushka was quick to respond to the claims by the former cricket as she posted a lengthy statement denying it while adding that she has always been a target of critics whenever India or Kohli, in particular, don’t play well. Indian skipper Kohli on Saturday broke his silence on the incident while saying that Anushka has always been a ‘soft target’.

"All the things we spoke about, you know what was being spoken and said about Anushka as well. I think most of these things are agenda-driven. I don't know why or what for, but to accept lies in that manner, it could not be anything else but agenda driven," Kohli told India Today.

"If it was random, one guy would write it and the others would not focus on it because it is not important enough." Kohli, however, said that Shastri never gets affected by it and that the 57-year-old former India captain's focus is on how the present team can become the greatest of all time. "In Ravi bhai's case, he is luckily a person who doesn't care at all. I mean a guy who has faced that attack (during his career) without a helmet and got runs, he is not gonna be bothering about someone sitting at home and trolling him. "Because if you want to troll a guy who has done that, get up, go into that position, face those bowlers, do what he has done, and then have a debate with that guy. He is absolutely chilled out. He says our only focus is on how we can be the best team of all time," Kohli said.