MS Dhoni Was Initially Reluctant To Take The Role As A Mentor But Agreed After Consultation With Virat Kohli

MS Dhoni surprised all by announcing that he would be retiring from all international cricket, on Independence Day last year,  A little more than a year later, his return to the Team India folds as ‘mentor’ for the forthcoming T20 World Cup in the UAE has been equally surprising.

MS Dhoni Was Initially Reluctant To Take The Role As A Mentor

The meeting that happened in Dubai about 10 days ago lasted around 90 minutes and MS Dhoni had not said “yes” immediately. According to sources close to the development, the Chennai Super Kings captain was initially a little reluctant to take on the role.

“It was a request to which he couldn’t say no to, but he took his time before giving his nod,” a source said.

When the offer was made, captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri were obviously consulted. But the feeling is MS Dhoni himself must have had a discussion with Virat Kohli before giving his consent.

“In the initial proposal, the term ‘mentor’ wasn’t mentioned. It was more of an advisory role to the team. But it was Dhoni’s equation with Virat that proved to be the clincher,” the source added.

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni worked brilliantly in tandem after the Jharkhand cricketer stepped down from India’s limited-overs captaincy in 2017. The sight of wicketkeeper MS Dhoni setting the field, even as Virat Kohli chose to field closer to the boundary line to make optimum use of his superb throwing arm, became common in both T20Is and ODIs in 2018-19.

“Kohli always valued Dhoni’s judgement and that has to be one of the reasons behind his decision to do the mentorship,” the source added.

It is true that both are strong personalities, but Ravi Shastri is towards the fag end of his tenure as coach: his contract is till the 2021 T20I World Cup, and it’s unlikely that he will get into any confrontation with a legend of Indian cricket.

MS Dhoni’s T20 Intelligence Saw Him Being Appointed As A Mentor

MS Dhoni’s T20 Intelligence saw him being appointed as a mentor.

“It is Dhoni’s T20 intelligence. Due to his IPL commitments, is extremely aware of the goings-on of the T20 world,” the source added.

The reticent player’s retirement, announced by him through an Instagram post on August 15 last year, had taken the cricket world by surprise and he has not spoken even once about it after that. The highly-respected wicketkeeper-batsman played 90 Tests, 350 ODIs, and 98 T20 Internationals amassing 4876, 10773, and 1617 runs respectively across formats.