Virat Kohli: MS Dhoni’s presence helping me understand limited-over captaincy better

Virat Kohli won his first T20I series as skipper when India trounced England by 75 runs on Wednesday.

India captain Virat Kohli says he is benefitting from the immense experience of MS Dhoni in taking decisions in the limited-overs format which is relatively new for him in terms of leadership. India claimed the T20I series 2-1 against England after a comprehensive 75-run win in the third and final game on Wednesday at Bengaluru. Batting first, India piled up 202 for 6 in 20 overs and visitors were on course at 119 for 2 but a meek surrender by their middle and lower-order saw them get all-out for 127. India vs England, 3rd T20I: Virat Kohli hits back at media

“Although I have captained in the Test format for a while, ODI and T20 games move very fast. So to take advice from a person (Dhoni) who has captained the side at this level for so long and understands the game really well is never a bad idea in crucial situations,” stated Kohli after India’s thumping win. The young captain disclosed that he wanted Hardik Pandya to bowl after star-performer Yuzvendra Chahal’s quota was over but was advised by Dhoni and Ashish Nehra to hand the ball to Jasprit Bumrah, who scalped 2 wickets in 3 balls to finish the game.

“Bringing on Bumrah right after that over from Chahal, I was thinking of giving (Hardik) Pandya another over instead. (Dhoni and Nehra) suggested that let’s not wait till the 19th over and instead bring on the main bowlers. So these things really help when you are a new captain in the limited-overs format. But again, I am not new to captaincy, but there has to be a balance between understanding the skills needed to lead in shorter formats. MS has been helping a lot on that front”, stated Kohli.

Kohli said the Indian team, which has many yougsters, has made a very fast progress. “We got the results we wanted. Obviously winning all three series feels really, really good right now because we’re up against a top-quality side. We understand that and to come on top after the end of all three series is a great feeling altogether knowing that we didn’t have that much experience in our teams. The Test team is almost as good as new. Even in the ODI circuit, we have 3-4 experienced guys, but rest of the guys who stepped up are all youngsters, which is, I think, is a massive, massive boost for Indian cricket”, claimed the 28-year-old.

Kohli said the biggest takeaway for winning all three series for the team was the “youngsters were hungry to win matches for the team instead focusing on individual performances.” He also said wickets in the middle overs by spinner Yajuvendra Chahal made the job easy for them.

“If we don’t get wickets in middle overs any total is chaseable in Bengaluru. No total looks far-fetched and any batting lineup in the world can explode in the end. So, key today was to take wickets in middle overs and Chahal did a good job to take those wickets,” concluded Kohli who won his first series as T20I skipper.