New Delhi: Not just a leader, Mahendra Singh Dhoni was also a saviour for his successor Virat Kohli, who revealed that the talismanic former skipper prevented his ouster from the Indian team many a times.
Kohli has played his entire international cricket under Dhoni’s captaincy since his ODI debut in Sri Lanka back in 2008. In his initial days both in ODIs and Tests, Kohli didn’t show consistency and his place wasn’t secure but Dhoni had immense faith in his talent and abilities.
“He (Dhoni) will always be the person, who guided me initially and gave me opportunities. He gave me ample time and space to grow as a cricketer, saved me from getting dropped from the team many a times,” India’s captain in all formats gave one of the most beautiful tributes on bcci.tv.
India’s No.1 batsman made it clear that replacing Dhoni as a captain is a big ask.
“Obviously, these are massive shoes to fill. You think of MS Dhoni and the first word that comes to mind is captain! You don’t relate MS Dhoni in any other way. For me he is always going to be my captain,” said Kohli.
On Wednesday, Dhoni relinquished captaincy in limited overs format and the senior selection committee officially handed over the baton to Kohli, who was already leading the side in the longest format.
Kohli’s new assignment starts with the six-match limited overs series against England starting in Pune on January 15. “I didn’t realise myself when this transition happened, from starting off as a player just wanting to play for India and now having the responsibility to be captain in all three formats,” he said. “For every child it is a dream to just play for the country and this is the biggest day of my life.”
Kohli said he would continue to seek Dhoni’s help in forming team strategies. “Obviously on the field I would be running to him a lot. I would want him to totally enjoy his cricket now. The team would be in a very solid place if MS Dhoni enjoys his cricket.”
Kohli also said that he believes in leading by example. “Added responsibility has always worked for me in the sense that you have no room to be complacent or relax at any stage. Even in the IPL, it’s very easy to throw my wicket away after crossing 60 or 70 runs. But I push after that because I realise that as captain I have to set an example and I have to firstly make that kind of effort before asking my team mates to do it.”
On whether his mindset changes according to the format of the game. “The most important thing is the team should realise that the ultimate goal is to win. In this day and age you have to play consistent cricket at a very high intensity for a very long time to win the game. That is one of the things that we have been able to do in Test matches.”
