Johannesburg: India head coach Rahul Dravid on Sunday stated that captain Virat Kohli has been "phenomenal" with the team despite all the noise around him.
Kohli, who was removed from ODI captaincy, said that there had been no communication from the BCCI over his sacking. The selection committee felt that there should be only one white-ball captain, to which Kohli replied "okay, fine".
However, chief selector Chetan Sharma on the eve of new year contradicted Kohli, saying there had been no confusion between the board and Kohli.
In spite of the off-field fiasco, head coach Dravid heaped praises on Kohli and said that the India Test captain has been keeping the morale of the team high.
"Virat has been phenomenal in keeping the team in good space," Dravid said ahead of the second Test in a virtual press conference.
"In terms of keeping the morale high, it's not difficult. Virat does it. It's a pleasure to work with someone like Virat.
"Personally, he is in a really good space. I feel there is a run of big runs coming soon, observing how he is practicing, how involved he is. Credit to him and the team, despite all that's happening around," he added.
India, who are 1-0 up in the three-match Test series, will take on South Africa in the second match on January 3 at the Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg. (UNI)