New Delhi: With the World Cup round the corner, India captain Virat Kohli has revealed that the presence of former skipper M.S. Dhoni in the team, especially behind the stumps, is “priceless”. Kohli said the selflessness with which Dhoni conducts himself makes him a delight to play alongside.
“The fact is Dhoni is among the smartest guys in the game. Behind the stumps, as I said, he’s priceless. It gives me the freedom to do my thing. Someone like MS is a wealth of experience,” Kohli told the Times of India in an interview. “What can I say about him. My career started under him and few have seen him from so close over the last few years as I have.
There’s one thing about MS that’s far more important than anything else — and there’s a lot to him. “For him, the team is always above everything else. It’s always about the team, no matter what.
To top it, look at the experience he brings to the squad and we’re richer with it. “Some of his dismissals behind the stumps, even as recently (as in the IPL), were match-changing,” the skipper added. Kohli said that there will be expectations from both Dhoni and Vice-Captain Rohit Sharma from a leadership perspective at the World Cup that starts on May 30. “The way they’ve gone about their respective roles — as captains (in the Indian Premier League) — speaks volumes of what they bring to the table. MS in particular has a legacy. So, it augurs well for this team to have both of them in a leadership role.
“That’s why, the team management decided to have a strategy pool in place which MS and Rohit are a part of,” he said. Kohli’s personal performances over the past two years has led commentators and pundits hailing him as the best batsman in the world and one of the all time greatest. It has also seen him leading the Indian Test team to a historic series win against Australia.
The team also won ODI series in England and Australia. All this has led to the side going to England as one of the favourites to win the Cup. “It’s been a challenging year and one that has left us very proud of the way we carried ourselves. To head to the toughest of destinations with a young but fiercely proud bunch was amazing. That’s precisely how we have approached every big series that we played between January 2018 and now. We were very clear about what we wanted to do as team and where we want to head,” said Kohli.
“I never thought that one day so many people will get inspired by what I do. My priority was to play for the Indian team for as long as possible. That stays my priority even today and shall continue to be.” (IANS)
