Virat Kohli already close to being a legend, says MS Dhoni
Former India captain MS Dhoni has labelled Virat Kohli as the “best batsman” and said that the right-hander has reached a status where he is close to being a legend. Moreover, Dhoni hailed Kohli’s captaincy and said that he is someone who keeps taking the team forward.
“He (Kohli) is the best and has already reached a status, where he is close to (being) a legend. So I am very happy for him. And the way he has batted everywhere and in the last few years, he has just been brilliant,” said Dhoni at the launch of an application. “He keeps taking the team forward and that is what you want from a leader. So all the best to him,” Dhoni said.
After the third ODI between England and India, the cameras captured the glovesman taking the ball from the umpires and rumours spread that he might be retiring. With Ravi Shastri already clearing the air on the subject, Dhoni put the lid on it as well by revealing the reason behind reaching for the ball.
“(I took the ball) to see why we are not able to get enough reverse swing. Because we will be playing the World Cup in England, we have to (ensure) that we get reverse swing going. Because it is something that is very important. If the opposition is getting it, we should also get it, at some point or the other,” Dhoni elaborated.
“After 50 overs, the ball is useless to the ICC (International Cricket Council), so I requested the umpire ‘Can I get the ball and gave it to the bowling coach? We need to work on it as to how we can get it more scuffed up so that we can get a bit of reverse swing going, that will in-turn help the fast bowlers get those yorkers or wickets in and around the 40th over mark. That would really help us restrict the opposition by not getting too many runs in the last 10 overs.”
India lost the first Test by 31 runs against England and talking about the same, Dhoni said, “I will just tell you one thing — to win a Test match, you need 20 wickets and we (India) did that. So that’s the only answer I would give because it dosesn’t matter how well you bat, how well you are there for five days but (by) taking 20 wickets, you can win a Test match.”
