MS Dhoni helps Virat Kohli make decisions: BCCI official

Before the start of the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Virat Kohli’s captaincy was all over the news after Gautam Gambhir‘s statement on him. Gambhir had said that Kohli was not a tactful captain while also stating that the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper should feel lucky to retain his captaincy. And Kohli has so far done very little to prove Gambhir wrong. The RCB have lost all the four games so far and are languishing at the bottom of the table.

Royal Challengers’ constant struggles despite having some of the biggest names in world cricket at their ranks have raised questions on Kohli and his captaincy. In fact, before the IPL, Kohli had also lost the three ODIs against Australia at home. One notable aspect of all these losses was that he was without his illustrious predecessor MS Dhoni by his side. Dhoni was rested for the final two ODIs against Australia and is currently leading the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) who have won all of their four games so far.

It is now a very well established fact that Virat Kohli does rely a lot on Dhoni while taking decisions. And his constant struggles in IPL has made this notion more strong. A source in the Indian team management has now said that Kohli expresses himself better when he has Dhoni around him. The source also added that youngsters like Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal also feel confident while bowling when Dhoni stands behind the stumps.

“Let us not read too much into T20 games, but the thing is that when you have someone like Dhoni around, you can be yourself. Dhoni helps Kohli make decisions and also guides the bowlers like you would have seen time and again. Youngsters like Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal feel at home when they have Dhoni guiding them from behind the wicket. That is why Dhoni is such an integral member of the Indian ODI set-up.

“Kohli can also focus on his batting when Dhoni is around. See his scores in the last seven games that you are mentioning. Dhoni was there is Ranchi and Kohli scored 123. After that, the scores read 7, 20, 6, 46, 3 and 23. It always helps when you have a senior member in the team to guide you with his experience,” the source was quoted as saying by Latestly.

Dhoni – a balancing factor

The BCCI official insisted that MS Dhoni gives the team the much-needed balance. He also said that the former India skipper is still integral to the team’s success despite the criticism he has faced in recent past. The official went on to say that Dhoni’s presence is of utmost importance if India are eyeing the World Cup this summer.

“He is the balancing factor in the Indian team. Cricket in India evokes a range of emotions with every fan having his/her favourite player. Dhoni at this moment is integral to the success of the team ever since he took up the role of the senior and guiding player in the team. His presence has a calming effect on the entire team. For India to succeed in the World Cup, Dhoni’s presence is very important,” added the source.

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