Rubbishing all talk of a rift between himself and Virender Sehwag, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Friday came out with his entire squad, including support staff, for the pre-match press conference in Nottingham ahead of the team's World T20 opener against Bangladesh, and lashed out at a "false and irresponsible" Indian media.
Dhoni said: "This message is for the people of India and Indian cricket fans from worldwide who care for the whole team. That's why we are all here.
"As we prepare for the T20 World Cup, we are a unified team. The team spirit is as good as it has ever been, with each individual supporting each other both on and off the field.
"Recent reports in the Indian media of a rift between myself and Sehwag amounts to nothing but false and irresponsible media.
"Our fans and supporters can take confidence from the wonderful unity that continues to exist in the team.
"We thank our fans for this continued support and look forward to entertaining you during this tournament which we go into well-prepared, unified as Team India and confident.
"Thank-you."
Finished, Dhoni and the entire squad stormed out of the conference, leaving the Indian media miffed.
The media immediately lodged a complaint with the ICC's Communications Officer Sami-ul-Hasan, saying that since it is an ICC event it is mandatory for the captain or a team member to address the media ahead of a match.
Hassan agreed, saying ICC rules are certainly in place, but it has no control over how teams conduct their briefing.
