Paddy Upton explains the difference between MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli’s approach

From making a good name for himself in the Indian coaching staff to becoming one of the most highly reputed coaches in the World, Paddy Upton has come a long way in the last decade or so. The South African spent a lot of his youth years studying the mental aspect of the game and all of his research is reflecting upon his success.

He really is an encyclopedia when it comes to studying cricketers mindsets, their strategic approaches and also the different mental phases they go through. He spoke exclusively to Crictracker at the Red Bull Campus Cricket Nationals tournament in Jaipur and talked about the major difference between the current Indian skipper Virat Kohli and former captain MS Dhoni’s approach.

“They understand clearly how to pace their game. Virat tries to keep up with the run rate right from ball one whilst Dhoni starts slowly and knows exactly when to pull the trigger and accelerate. Both of them are equally effective and they time their approach to perfection.

“We obviously saw the potential (in Kohli). But a lot of other players had potential too, in India’s there is no shortage of that. It is fantastic to see how he translated that potential to be the world number one batsman,” Upton explained.

Both 2011 and 2019 Indian sides are well groomed and prepared

The head coach of Rajasthan Royals also talked about the current Indian setup. He explained why it’s important for the management to handle certain things carefully in this current team. He also mentioned some names like Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and Jasprit Bumrah, explaining how important a role they will play in this World Cup for the Men in Blue.

“It’s a completely different bunch of players apart from a few. Both sides are very well prepared I guess and for the current Indian side, to have Virat Kohli in this form is such an asset. And backing him up is MS Dhoni, who really knows how to take his side to victory. Bumrah is just unbelievable under pressure, he could knock down anyone when he’s bowling well. All the ingredients are there, but it all boils down to who manages themselves mentally and emotionally the best and the luck factor will be which team has more players in form,” He said.