The transition of captaincy from MS Dhoni to Virat Kohli was as seamless as possible. While Kohli assumed the mantle of Test cricket captaincy with Dhoni's retirement, it was in white-ball cricket that the strong bond between the two was most evident, as Dhoni played for more than two years under Kohli's leadership.
In fact, MS Dhoni played a pivotal role in both the 2017 Champions Trophy and 2019 World Cup, both of which were led by Virat Kohli, in the Indian squad. Dhoni is India's most successful white-ball captain in history, and the only leader in world cricket to have achieved the remarkable feat of leading his team to victory in the T20 World Cup, Cricket World Cup, and Champions Trophy. His remarkable accomplishments have cemented his legacy as one of the greatest captains of all time.
After his appointment in 2007, Dhoni captained the Indian cricket team in white-ball cricket for nearly a decade before passing the baton to Kohli in January 2017. Kohli had already been leading the Indian Test team since 2015, after Dhoni made the decision to retire from Test cricket in December 2014.
However, former Indian fielding coach R Sridhar has revealed that Kohli was eager to be appointed white-ball captain in 2016. Sridhar stated that Ravi Shastri had a special conversation with Kohli regarding the matter and advised him to show respect to Dhoni, as this was the only way he would gain respect when he eventually became captain.
“There was a time in 2016 when Virat was very eager to be the captain of the white-ball team too. He said a few things that showed he was looking for the captaincy," Srihdar wrote in his book 'Coaching Beyond - My days with the Indian cricket team.'
“One evening, Ravi called him and said, 'Look, Virat, MS gave it (the captaincy) to you in red-ball cricket. You have to respect him. He will give it to you in limited-overs cricket, too, when the time is right. Unless you respect him now, tomorrow when you are the captain, you won't get the respect from your team. Respect him now, irrespective of what is going on. It will come to you, you don't have to run behind it'," he added.
Dhoni and Kohli are renowned for their strong bond. Recently, Kohli divulged that the 2011 World Cup-winning captain was the only one to reach out to him after he stepped down from the Test captaincy. This speaks volumes about the mutual respect and admiration they have for each other, and the strong friendship they have forged over the years.
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