India vs England: Why is MS Dhoni indispensable to Virat Kohli in ODI series

With the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) embracing the Decision Review System (DRS), the technology is set to make its debut in a bilateral series in India.

India first agreed to use the DRS in the five-Test series against England and will now use it for the three-ODI series.

In the Test series, which India won 4-0, the DRS came into use 21 times of which England used it 12 times and India on nine occasions.

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During the ODI series, whenever new skipper Virat Kohli has a doubt over a decision, he knows his predecessor MS Dhoni is the man to head to for deciding on a review.

“(It’s) priceless,” said Kohli, asked about DRS’ debut and Dhoni behind the stumps.

“I saw a stat that 95 per cent of his (Dhoni) appeals he’s made in his career have been successful. As captain, I have no sort of extra thinking as far as DRS is concerned. He’s one voice, if he tells me it’s outside the line or it is missing, the decision stands there. It’s not left to doubt or any further debate from there on. He’s someone who has always been very smart with decision making, as far as appeals are concerned as well. I think his word will be the one I will trust as far as DRS is concerned. Because he is in the best position, plus he’s the most intelligent cricketer around,” said Kohli on Saturday.

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Since he took charge in all three formats, experts raised concerns that the responsibility might burden him. Kohli, however, had a different take. “I haven’t felt burden at all. I was actually pretty delighted to be given the captaincy for all the three formats. It adds to the responsibility and makes you a better player, a better person. I have always liked that aspect of captaincy.

“I personally feel until you try something, you can never know what’s the limit you can actually execute or achieve in that aspect. I have felt in the past that people have created limitations in their head in terms of what they can do and what they cannot even before trying. If the burden is too much, I don’t know. Maybe in future, I will be able to assess that much more,” said Kohli.