One thing great about MS Dhoni is that he thinks for Indian cricket: Virat Kohli

MS Dhoni is a player who has achieved the status beyond that of legends in India, a country crazy about cricket. Like Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni has also become a demi-god for his followers, with his popularity going from Jharkhand to Chennai. He is loved and hated equally in the country, but one thing is sure, that the former captain of the Indian team has etched himself into the annals of cricket history.

He has not been seen on the cricket field ever since his last appearance in the semi-final of the ICC World Cup 2019, where he was run out for 50 and with him went India’s hopes of making it into the finals of the tournament. He served the Indian army for 15 days after excusing himself from the West Indies tour and with him not being picked for the South Africa T20I series, speculations were rife about him calling time on his illustrious career.

There is no replacement for experience, says Kohli about MS Dhoni

Current Indian captain Virat Kohli as well put fuel in the fire of the rumor of Dhoni retiring with an innocuous-looking post on social media recently and though he has reached Dharamsala with the Indian team for the first T20I against South Africa, he was still found talking about his predecessor during the press conference on the eve of the match.

“Experience is always going to matter whether you like it or not. Many players have proven in the past that age is just a number and even Dhoni has done that a lot in his career. One thing great about him is that he thinks for Indian cricket. When to stop playing cricket, is completely an individual decision. No one should give opinions regarding the matter,” Kohli told reporters.

MS Dhoni has played 98 T20Is, the most by an Indian so far, scoring 1617 runs with two half-centuries and the best score of 56 at a strike rate of 126.13. The record may not be as impressive as his IPL one, but he can be credited for bringing BCCI’s interest into the T20 format because of his World T20 success, which resulted in the formation of IPL itself.