Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni refused to talk about the message he sent to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star Virat Kohli in 2022 before the IPL 2024 season. Instead, Dhoni willingly detailed how their relationship had evolved over the years. However, Kohli revealed that MS Dhoni was the only cricketer to reach out to him through messages after he stepped down from Team India captaincy in 2022 as well.
Talking about his message to Kohli on JioStar, Dhoni said: “I will talk about the relationship, not the message. I like to keep it the way it is. What it does is, it lets other cricketers come to me and ask if they have anything in their mind. They have the feeling: ‘Speak whatever you want to him, nothing will come out. Whatever we speak, a third person wouldn’t know it’. That trust is very important, especially for cricketers who you have not played with, who you might never play with. But, hey might need some help, regarding cricket, regarding life. So, I have kept it that way.”
ALSO READ: “In the next T20 World Cup in India, he’ll be number one bowler” – Mohammad Kaif on Varun Chakravarthy
However, MS Dhoni said that his relationship with Virat Kohli has gradually evolved into a friendship over the years, because of the honesty in communication. While Kohli played under Dhoni in the first half of his career, Dhoni played under Kohli in the latter stages of Dhoni’s career as well.
“I gave him honest opinions. That’s how the relationship grew. It was more of a captain and a newcomer at that point in time. But once you keep interacting, you become friends. I still feel that there is a line in the middle – of a senior and a junior. But we are still friends. So, we have an amazing companionship. Both of us are not captains now, which gives us more time together before the toss,” said Dhoni.
“Me and Virat, right from the start he was someone who wanted to contribute. He was someone who was never happy with 40 or 60. He wanted to score a hundred and remain not out in the end. That hunger was there right from the start.He quickly improved his batting, and that will to perform and score was what kept him going. He raised his fitness levels. He has always been like that,” MS Dhoni concluded.
