Cricket

 What do Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni talk about?

What do Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni talk about? 

heirs was one of the smoothest captaincy transitions in international cricket, and the reason could well be that former India World Cup winning captain MS Dhoni was impressed with how committed Virat Kohli was to winning.

Speaking exclusively on Jio Hotstar's MS Dhoni Experience, the CSK talisman explained how their equation grew over the years with winning for India being at the core of it.

Dhoni recalled his first impressions.  "Right from the start, Virat was someone who wanted to contribute.  He was never satisfied with scoring just 40 or 60 runs—he always aimed for a century and wanted to remain not out till the end.  That hunger for success was there from the beginning," he told the show

The turnaround seems to have come about after the Sri Lanka series.  "If you look back at the Sri Lanka series in which he was a part of the team, he came back and played even better. He stood out because of the way he worked on his batting, improved his fitness, and maintained his determination to perform and keep getting better. Dhoni added, "He was always eager to learn."

They started thinking about run chases, where Kohli is the reigning deity and Dhoni is the original master of planning run pursuits. "He would come and discuss situations, analyzing what he could have done differently.  For example, in a run chase, if he got out at a crucial moment, he would talk about whether he could have delayed taking a risk by an over or handled the situation differently.  We had many conversations, and that helped both of us.  It was always an honest exchange of ideas—whether a certain approach was right or if an adjustment could have been made," Dhoni said.

Though Dhoni is six years Kohli's senior, the two had become friends now, and not being captains afforded them peace and glee to talk.  "Initially, it was more of a relationship between a captain and a young player, but over time, as we kept interacting, we became friends.  Even today, we share that bond, though there’s always a line of respect between a senior and a junior.  We have more time to talk before games now that neither of us is captain. Earlier, before the toss, we had to prepare and go, but now we can just stand and have a chat," Dhoni said.

Watch: Hardik Pandya Hugs MS Dhoni And Refuses to Let Go During Practice Session

 Hardik Pandya and MS Dhoni greet each other at Chepauk. (Screengrab/MI)

In an exciting matchup tonight at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians will kick off their IPL 2025 season. Between them, CSK and MI have won 10 IPL titles and are two of the most successful teams of the competition’s history.

For this particular match, MI will be without their captain, Hardik Pandya, who is serving a one-match suspension for an over-rate offense from last season. Pandya though is training with his MI teammates.

A clip of Pandya greeting CSK legend MS Dhoni has been shared by MI on their social media handles.  The allrounder, who played key roles in India’s T20 World Cup win last year and the recent Champions Trophy, hugged the legendary captain and then refused to let go of him.

The duo chatted for a while during the training session.

The duo shares a warm relationship with Pandya along with his elder brother Krunal once paying Dhoni a surprise visit at his home to celebrate the two-time world cup winning captain’s 39th birthday in July 2020.

Suryakumar Yadav will lead MI in his absence.

In addition to Pandya, the star pacer Jasprit Bumrah is expected to miss the first few games as his recovery from a back injury continues.

Suryakumar acknowledges that while it’s a challenge to find apt replacements for big players, MI have the players who can step up.

 “…it is difficult to fill the shoes of such amazing players.  It is a part of the game, and the show must go on.  There are boys who can take up the responsibility and are very keen to take the field tomorrow (Sunday)… we have guys who can take up the responsibility,” Surya said during a media interaction on Saturday.

MI has defeated CSK 20 times in their 37 previous encounters while losing 17 games.

'He makes 99% of decisions' - MS Dhoni tells why CSK made Ruturaj Gaikwad their captain

'He makes 99% of decisions' - MS Dhoni tells why CSK made Ruturaj Gaikwad their captain

'He makes 99% of decisions' - MS Dhoni tells why CSK made Ruturaj Gaikwad their captain (Source: BCCI)

Chennai Super Kings started their campaign with a great win over Mumbai Indians, under the leadership of captainRuturaj Gaikwad.  CSK legend and former skipper MS Dhoni also explained the reason behind giving the young Maharashtra batter the captaincy ahead of the IPL 2024, and why the change had to be made going forward.

There has been a lot of debate on ’s captaincy after CSK failed to qualify for the playoffs in IPL 2024.  Even though leadership changed, some people still believed that Dhoni was in charge of all the decisions, while Ruturaj let the "Captain Cool" lead.

However, the former CSK skipper has revealed the reason behind passing on the reins to the 28-year-old top-order batter where he also talked about the plans for the longer period and how well he has done as a player and a skipper.

“You have to look at the long-term picture.  More often than not, the batsmen who are part of your core squad and do well for you are the ones you can rely on for a longer period.  With bowlers, especially fast bowlers, there is always a tendency for injuries.  Ruturaj has been part of us for quite some time.  He has done well for us.  His temperament is very good—he’s very calm, very composed.  He and Fleming get along very well.  So those were the reasons we considered him for leadership,” he said via JioHotstar.

I'll try to stay away as much as possible: Dhoni

The Ranchi-born also went on to mention how much his involvement in the game is, and the kind of role he plays in handling the team as well as the players within the Chennai squad.

“We were quite sure Ruturaj would be good for us.  After IPL last year, I almost immediately told him, ‘90% you will lead next season, so start preparing yourself mentally’.  Before the start of the tournament, I also told him, ‘If I give you advice, it doesn’t mean you have to follow it.  I will try to stay away as much as possible.’  During the season, a lot of people speculated that I was making the decisions in the background.  But the fact is, he was making 99% of the decisions.  The most important calls—bowling changes, field placements—were all his.  I was just helping him out.  He did a brilliant job of handling the players,”  concluded.