New Delhi: India skipper Virat Kohli has credited MS Dhoni for playing an important part in him taking over as captain of the national side and becoming one of the successful leader in international cricket.
Kohli said that he always loved taking responsibility, but he never thought of becoming the captain of the Indian team.
The star batsman said that once he felt that he had made his place in the team, he started talking to Dhoni, who was the captain at the time, about different tactics, and said that this probably gave Dhoni the confidence that Kohli could take over the reins from him.
“Then, with your intrigue in the game, you start talking to the captain regularly. I was always in MS’ ears, discussing different tactics. I think he got a lot of confidence that I can do this after him,” Kohli said during a recent chat with Ravichandran Ashwin.
Kohli, during the interaction also revealed, also explained how Dhoni had observed him for a long time, and how that played a role in his taking over as captain of the Indian team. ”I think a large portion of me becoming captain was also to do with him (MSD) observing me for a long period of time. It just can’t happen like he goes and selectors say you become captain, ” Kohli said. “The guy who is there, he takes responsibility and says okay I think this is the next guy and I will tell you how he is going and then slowly that transition is formed.I think he played a big role in that and that trust you have to build over, say six seven years, it just doesn’t happen overnight,” he added.
MS Dhoni is regarded as one of the most successful captain in international cricket history. Under his captaincy, India achieved massive success in international cricket, including winning the ICC World T20 2007, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and ICC Champions Trophy 2013.
Once Dhoni’s captaincy regime ended, Virat Kohli took the leadership responsibility of the Indian team, and now he is one of the most successful captain especially in red ball cricket. Though, Kohli-led India haven’t won any ICC tournament yet, they have performed very consistently in every event. Under his captaincy, India won their first-ever ODI bilateral series in South Africa, first-ever Test and ODI bilateral series in Australia and more others. Kohli-led India also remained on top position in the ICC Test team rankings for 43 successive months.
Kohli captained India Under-19s to victory at the 2008 Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia.
After a few months later, he made his ODI debut for India against Sri Lanka at the age of 19.
Initially having played as a reserve batsman in the Indian team, he soon established himself as a regular in the ODI middle-order and was part of the squad that won the 2011 World Cup.
He made his Test debut in 2011 and shrugged off the tag of “ODI specialist” by 2013 with Test hundreds in Australia and South Africa.
Having reached the number one spot in the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen for the first time in 2013,
Kohli also found success in the Twenty20 format, winning the Man of the Tournament twice at the ICC World Twenty20 (in 2014 and 2016).
Kohli was appointed the vice-captain of the ODI team in 2012 and handed over the Test captaincy following Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Test retirement in 2014.
In early 2017, he became the limited-overs captain as well after Dhoni stepped down from the position. (UNI)
