Both Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have been huge members of India in all formats of the game, while in the Indian Premier League, both playing against each other for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) hardly leave centimetre for each other.
Both the icons of Indian cricket have been resilient throughout their career. Both Virat Kohli and Dhoni shared a very close bond too among each other on off the field, when they used to play together for India, before the latter’s retirement.
It was always an honour to see Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni running between the wickets. The number of moments both of them have is quite unmatchable. In the 50-over format of the game, both have a giant record to share. The former India captain has notched up 13848 ODI runs in 280 innings at an average of 58.67 and a strike rate of 93.58 with 72 fifties and 50 centuries.
The wicket-keeper batter, however, retired with 10773 ODI runs in 350 games, at an average of 50.57 and a strike rate of 87.56, with 73 fifties and 10 centuries.
‘That’s something about Virat Kohli how he…’ – Shane Watson
The former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has shared the field with both Kohli and Dhoni in the IPL history. Watson was a member of the side that became the runners-up in the 2016 season against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, while Watson’s century helped CSK earn their 2018 IPL trophy.
“There’s only really a couple of other people that I’ve played with or played against who had that consistent intensity every moment of every game. So that’s something about Virat (Kohli), that we’ve seen in this IPL, just how engaged he is,” The former Australia T20I captain Shane Warson expressed in an interview. “That’s why he’s been able to sustain such high performances for such a long period of time.”
Kohli was in fine touch in the recently concluded IPL 2024, being the highest run-getter of the tournament, with 741 runs in 15 innings, at an average of 61.75 and a strike rate of 154.69, with five fifties and one century. Dhoni, leaving out the captaincy this season, has smashed 161 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 220.54.
“But then you’ve got on the other side of the fence is MS Dhoni, who is opposite of that intensity from Virat (Kohli). He doesn’t need to be like nine out of 10 with his intensity level,” the former team-mate of Dhoni in the CSK side remarked. “He needs to be around six. Even at the ripe age of 42, he still knows how to be able to let his mind be free to be able to access his skills that are so deeply ingrained.”
Watson, also shades light on how the strong mentality of the player becomes so vital for them in big tournaments.
“These are world-class cricketers who are going from an IPL, for example, and they’re gonna be facing. Also, whether it’s temperature, and a new team environment as well,” the veteran concluded. “That’s where by understanding these mental skills deeply and applying those into juts who you are, you build a really strong, like a bulletproof cocoon around you.”