Virat Kohli silent amid Rohit Sharma rift rumours ahead of West Indies tour

Simmering of tensions between limited-overs captain and vice-captain ahead of flight to United States

Not all is reportedly well between senior India players, Rohit Sharma, left, and Virat Kohli. Andrew Boyers / Reuters

India cricket captain Virat Kohli will not attend the customary news conference usually scheduled before their departure for an overseas tour, at least one media outlet has reported.

On Monday night, Kohli and his teammates are scheduled to fly from Mumbai to Florida, where they will face the West Indies in two of three Twenty20 internationals. And in a departure from standard practice, Kohli will not be taking questions from the media, according to a report that appeared on television station India Today's website on Saturday.

The reason for this is said to be his rumoured rift with limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

Tensions have reportedly been simmering between Kohli and Rohit since their Cricket World Cup group stage defeat to England in Birmingham this month. There appeared to be a split in the team camp following a meeting in which the bowling unit was confronted over the loss, according to the Hindustan Times newspaper.

Another argument was over how much time players' families should have with them on tour, with the row presumably culminating in Rohit unfollowing Kohli and his Bollywood actress-wife Anushka Sharma on Instagram this week.

The Hindustan Times also reported that the Indian cricket board (BCCI) attempted to intervene by getting one of the senior players to post messages of bonhomie within the team on social media. But the unnamed senior official conceded "not much progress has been made in this regard".

None of the players have so far commented on the issue.