Former Indian captain MS Dhoni is often credited for building the team that recently triumphed in the T20 World Cup. The stars of today – Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma – have flourished under his leadership and years after taking the team to unprecedented heights, they retired from T20 Internationals after winning a World Cup on Saturday.
It was an emotional occasion for Kohli who played a spectacular knock in the summit clash against the Proteas. Kohli produced a 76-run knock, helping India post a fightable total. He was even adjudged Player of the Match for his stupendous performance with the bat.
Former Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal recently recalled an incident when legendary India skipper MS Dhoni heavily backed Kohli despite enduring poor form in ODIs.
All those Virat Kohli fans who hate MS Dhoni ,See how Dhoni supported Kohli in his bad times.Former Pakistan player Umar Akmal told how Dhoni supported Virat Kohli in his lean patch and saved him from being dropped from the team.#ViratKohli #ViratKohli #MSDhoni pic.twitter.com/UUaUxbuwjv— Sandarbh Raj Gupta (@Sandarbh_raj8) June 29, 2024
Umar Akmal discussed the topic during an interaction on Geo News’ show ‘Haarna Mana Hay,’ as per NDTV. According to Akmal, the incident unfolded during Pakistan’s tour of India in 2012-13. Virat Kohli had failed to produce an impressive show in the first few matches in the ODIs back then. Ahead of the last game, the then-Team India manager had asked MS Dhoni to drop Kohli from the playing eleven.
“I was having dinner with MS Dhoni in 2013. Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and Shoaib Malik were also present. Virat Kohli was going through a similar phase. The Team India manager walked up to Dhoni and asked him to drop Virat Kohli from the final ODI of the series,” Umar Akmal said.
“Dhoni replied saying, ‘I haven’t gone home for six months. Why don’t you book my tickets too along with Virat’s?’ Then the manager allowed him to play whoever he wanted,” he added.
“Virat is our best batter. Why should we drop him if he fails for 3-4 games?” Akmal recalled Dhoni saying.
One year after the incident, MS Dhoni stepped down as India’s Test captain and Virat Kohli replaced him at the helm. The duo shared the dressing room for more than a decade till 2020 when Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket. Kohli won his maiden T20 World Cup title in Barbados as India got the better of South Africa in the final.
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