Speculations are rife that Rohit Sharma has unfollowed captain Virat Kohli on Twitter and Instagram and there is a rift brewing between the two star cricketers.

Rohit has 12.4m followers (as of 2:30 pm IST, September 5) but he follows only 46 people — a list that does not include Kohli — on the popular social media platform.

Similarly, the captain of the India cricket team is not among the 84 people whom Rohit is following on Instagram.

While Kohli is not following Rohit on Twitter, the latter is among the 86 who the skipper follows on the photo-sharing platform.

International Business Times, India is unable to verify if Rohit had previously followed Kohli on Twitter and Instagram.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli
File photo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.Reuters

However, a few fans on Twitter are speculating a strain in the relationship between Kohli and Rohit.

The vice-captain and an integral member of the limited-overs sides, Rohit was not part of the Indian squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June as well.

Rohit, who smashed two centuries during the limited-overs leg of the ongoing England tour in July, took to Instagram to express his disappointment at missing out on a Test berth.

He uploaded a photo of himself from a vacation when India were playing the second Test at Lord's Cricket Ground and captioned it: "Would have preferred to be in the Lords balcony with a view of the ground but I'll settle for this for now (sic)."

Rohit had also liked a tweet from one of his fans, who had questioned his exclusion from the longest format of the game.

The 31-year-old has not played a Test for India since the South Africa tour earlier this year. Notably, he was preferred over Ajinkya Rahane for the first two Tests of the three-match rubber.

However, he was axed from the playing XI for the third Test after some ordinary performances in the previous two Tests (78 runs in four innings).

Nonetheless, Rohit is all set to lead India at Asia Cup 2018, starting September 15 in the United Arab Emirates. The opening batsman will replace captain Kohli, who has been rested for the six-nation continental tournament.