Dhoni inspires him to be captain: Kohli
Image : Collected
|| Desk Report ||
Team India captain Virat Kohli stated that former captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni was very helpful for him in becoming the new captain of Team India.
Virat Kohli felt that he was inclined to captain India but former captain MS Dhoni asked his opinion about the tactic of the game and that also inspired him to be skipper.
“I’ve always been inclined towards taking responsibility,” said Virat Kohli, who becomes a living ideal of thousands of players across the globe for his rigid idea of fitness and jaw-dropping performance in and out of the field as a player and as a captain.
“After my debut for India, it just about wanted to play; it was about being in the Indian XI all the time,” Kholi told off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on an Instagram Live chat session recently.
“Then, with your intrigue in the game, you start talking to the captain regularly. I was always in MS’ ears, discussing different tactics,” he added.
Being inspired by Dhoni, Virat said that his willingness to be captain of the Team India has been developed inside him.
“I think he got a lot of confidence that I can do this after him,” Kohli said.
“I think a large portion of me becoming captain was also to do with him observing me for a long time,” he added.
He said that the transition from one captain to another does not happen overnight and that you have to build trust and show that you can take over the job.
“I think he played a big role in that,” Kohli said.
Kohli, during the interaction also revealed why he decided to play former Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal like a leg-spinner, who was at peak of his career at the time in 2012.
Kohli said his Doosra -- a delivery which turns away from a right-hander batman -- was difficult to counter while his regular off-spin delivery was not that potent.
Kohli went on to score 183 in the match, which remains his personal best in ODIs, as India chased down 330 with more than two overs to spare.
