Virat Kohli close to being a legend, says MS Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni who oversaw Virat Kohli’s transition from a young player with the potential to a world beater praised the current Indian captain as the “best batsmen” in the world.

“He (Kohli) is the best and has already reached a status, where he is close to (being) a legend. So I am very happy for him. And the way he has batted everywhere and in the last few years, he has just been brilliant,” said the former India captain at the launch of the “Run Adam” app, of which he is the brand ambassador.

Kohli, who made his international debut under Dhoni’s captaincy has slowly grown-up from being a deputy to the World Cup-winning skipper, to a leader himself. And Dhoni was happy that the 29-year-old was not just leading the team forward with his batting exploits but is also leading as an able captain.

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“He keeps taking the team forward and that is what you want from a leader. So all the best to him,” added Dhoni.

The Ranchi-born cricketer also cleared rumors about his speculated retirement from the game and assured that he was not leaving before the 2019 World Cup.

Following India’s eight-wicket loss to England in the third and final ODI at Headingley, Dhoni was pictured taking the match ball from the on-field umpires and it sparked rumours that the wicket-keeper batsman may have played his final match. Dhoni though revealed that it was to help the team kno2 more about the conditions in England.

(I took the ball) to see why we are not able to get enough reverse swing. Because we will be playing the World Cup in England, we have to (ensure) that we get the reverse swing going. Because it is something that is very important. If the opposition is getting it, we should also get it, at some point or the other,” Dhoni elaborated.

“After 50 overs, the ball is useless to the ICC (International Cricket Council), so I requested the umpire ‘Can I get the ball and gave it to the bowling coach?

“We need to work on it as to how we can get it more scuffed up so that we can get a bit of reverse swing going, that will in-turn help the fast bowlers get those Yorkers or wickets in and around the 40th over mark. That would really help us restrict the opposition by not getting too many runs in the last 10 overs.”

Meanwhile, the Indian team is gearing up for the second Test at Lord’s after a heartbreaking 31-run defeat in the opening Test at Edgbaston. When Dhoni was asked about India’s chances of fighting back in the five-match Test series, he said that the team is capable of winning.

“I will just tell you one thing — to win a Test match, you need 20 wickets and we (India) did that. So that’s the only answer I would give because it doesn’t matter how well you bat, how well you are there for five days but (by) taking 20 wickets, you can win a Test match,” he said.