MS Dhoni finally opens lid on text to Virat Kohli when he shockingly quit as India's Test captain: ‘I’m not good at…'
When MS Dhoni was asked about his message to Virat Kohli after the latter quit as India's Test captain in January 2022, he said: “It's deja vu…”
MS Dhoni has no qualms in admitting he is "not great" in "staying in touch" with people. A few of his teammates, including two double World Cup winners, have gone on record (either in jest or seriousness) complaining about getting a cold shoulder from Dhoni when away from the field. Virat Kohli is definitely not one of them. He is one of those rare ones whom Dhoni has contacted himself; the most famous one was in January 2022 when Kohli quit as India's Test captain before the start of the South Africa tour. In September of that year, after India lost to Pakistan in an Asia Cup match despite Kohli's 60 off 44, the former captain, in a candid press conference, revealed how Dhoni's text message during his tough times motivated him.
"Let me tell you one thing: when I left Test captaincy, I got a message from only one person, with whom I had played previously; that was MS Dhoni," Kohli said. "Many people have my number. On TV, people give lots of suggestions; people have a lot to say. But none of the people who had my number sent me a message," Kohli had said.
Three years later, Dhoni finally opened up about his message to Kohli. When the legendary wicketkeeper-batter was asked about his message to Kohli during a corporate event, he said: "It's deja vu. I was asked a similar question in a JioHotsar show; you will see the answer during the IPL. I'm not great when it comes to being in touch with people but yeah, certain times when you someone needs you, you just drop in a message," Dhoni said in a video that has now gone viral.
‘Dhoni doesn’t need anything from me, neither do I need anything from me': Kohli
Kohli was going through one of the toughest phases of his career during that time. He had decided to quit as India's T20I captain and relinquished leadership duties of RCB in the IPL. A few weeks later, he was surprisingly replaced as the ODI captain too. Then came another shocker for the Indian team cricket fans when Kohli announced his decision to step down as India's Test captain. His bat was not roaring as loudly as it used to and Kohli, the enigmatic force, seemed jittery. That is when Kohli said he got a tex from Dhoni.
"That respect [with Dhoni], that connection you have with someone, when it is genuine, it shows like this, because there is no insecurity with either of us. Neither does he [Dhoni] need anything from me, nor do I need anything from him. Neither of us suffers from insecurity. I can only say: if I want to say something to someone, I reach out to that person individually if I want to help.
"I mean, if you give the suggestions in front of the world, it has no value for me. If it is for my improvement, you can talk with me one-on-one, (tell me) that I genuinely want you to do well. I live life with a lot of honesty, so I can see through such things. I am not saying that it doesn't matter to me, but you see the real thing. I can only say that. When you play for such a long time, when you play with honesty, the only one who looks out for you is the almighty. Until I play, until I am worthy of playing, I will play this way," he had said.
Kohli made his all-format debut under Dhoni's captaincy. He took over from Dhoni as the Test captain after the latter retired in the middle of the 2014-15 Australia tour before handing over India's all-format rein to Kohli before the 2017 Champions Trophy.
