SUCCESSOR AND PREDECESSOR SKIPPER: RIVALS OR MATES?
From passing the captaincy baton to ‘Dhoni review system’, the mates have been a part of several controversies and still stand strong together. Virat kohli, who currently carries the reins of Indian team captaincy baton, owes his journey to Captain Cool MS Dhoni. Earlier in 2012, when selectors were cynical about the position of kohli in test cricket, Dhoni almost resigned to back him up and as a result kohli has not looked back since hitting a century in Adelaide. Similarly, in 2019, when Dhoni was facing trouble to get into the ODIs, kohli backed him up by taking a dig at the critics.
DID KOHLI REALLY FLIP OUT AT DHONI?
The two are like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, mix the two different spreads, and they cannot be separated. While one keeps his cool on the pitch and the other is very aggressive, but the two have a great bond and respect for each other. Virat kohli has mentioned that a lot of people try to put a wedge between him and Dhoni, there have been several stories about it, but both of them haven’t paid any attention to it. For instance, it is said Virat Kohli flipped out at Dhoni, when he attempted his famous blind- sighted run-out against Mosaddek Hossain, but instead he threw the ball at his lying glove which was left loose on ground while keeping, as a result of which they lost 5 runs as penalty but he mentions that he was angry at the decision of the umpire. But, it is said that their friendship went through the hard times, when the power went from the cool captain to the hot headed one, but none of them have shown any hard feelings towards each other on pitch and have always worked with team spirit.
RIVALS IN IPL, BROTHERS OTHERWISE!
Kohli in an interview with Gaurav Kapoor, at breakfast with champions, mentioned that he and Dhoni share a very special connection, to him Dhoni has been a leader and a mentor, and he feels very lucky to have him during the initial years of his captaincy. He mentions that there have been many controversies against them but they both have immense respect for each other and are good friends, he talks about the way he trusts Dhoni’sinstincts, that 9 out of 10 times captain cool is right, and he works with them on the field without any doubt. Even when it comes to the matters of IPL, there has never been any acrimony between the two, instead they have been on good terms along with being captains of two different teams, Dhoni leading Chennai super kings while Kohli being responsible for Royal challengers Bengal, competing with each other on pitch by being loyal to their teams and continuing their friendship off pitch.
IS ‘DRS’ REALLY A JOKE TO YOU?
Even under the captaincy of Virat Kohli, Dhoni has a leeway to the stratergies of bowlers and skippers, and everyone including the captain trusts his instincts, as he is one of the finest readers of the game. But when it comes to social media, it all became as a joke stating, ‘Dhoni Review System’ and kohli received a lot of grief as he went for DRS referrals in the game. Like last year, during the India Sri-lanka game, Jadeja had a huge lbw shout turned down in the 20th over against Kusal Mendis, and as the skipper looked at kohli to signal for DRS, meanwhile Dhoni simply went to fetch the ball and then he threw it back to the bowler, without any further due. He has always been very firm with his decisions and has always received immense respect for that. TAKING DECISIONS BY THYSELF! When it comes to matters of the world cup, Kohli is a great leader and also has good decision-making skills as he changed Dhoni’s batting to 5th position as he’s great under pressure, which also lead them to win three- match ODI series against Australia. Australian cricketer, Shane Warne also stated in one of the interviews that, Kohli is a terrific leader, who complementarily has Dhoni by his side, which becomes a great combination of tactical edge and wealth of experience.
THE DRESSING-ROOM STORY
Ravi Shastri, the coach also commented on kohli- Dhoni relationship in the dressing room at the BCCI press conference in 2019, by saying that the dressing room has different personalities, each cricketer has their own personality, while Dhoni keeps his calm, and is someone who’ll be right there, Kohli takes the aggressive approach towards things but they have a fantastic communication altogether and share a good bond.
STRONG TOGETHER
Even though the captaincy baton shifted from Dhoni to kohli, while Dhoni still being the part of the team, was never a cause of dispute, as the ‘captain cool’ himself recognized that Virat Kohli is the center of mass of the entire cricket team and passed on the baton to him, so that he could just play in the last few years before retirement. Both of them make a great duo in the field despite having different personalities one is like the calm earth and the other is like the unpredictable sky, who meet at the horizon, which is the cricket pitch here.
