Did MS Dhoni help Virat rediscover his mojo? Kohli reveals ex-India skipper’s million dollar advice

Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni are two of the biggest names in Indian cricket, and two of the most successful skippers of all time.

Under Dhoni’s captaincy, Virat fine-tuned his leadership skills, and would eventually go on to take over the mantle from the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman. Virat often credits Dhoni for his success, and in a recent chat, he revealed how it was MSD who reached out to him when nobody else did.

The past years haven’t been Virat’s best and the 34-year-old has often struggled for consistency. Despite stepping aside as captain of the Indian team in T20Is, and with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as well, Kohli failed to live up to his own lofty standards.

He went three years without scoring a single international century, before finally ending that long wait at the Asia Cup 2022. The one-month sabbatical that he took before the Asia Cup did him a world of good, as he returned in peak condition, physically as well as mentally.

During his dark period, Kohli revealed that MS Dhoni reached out to him, and he felt like it was a blessing.

“The only person who genuinely reached out to me was MS Dhoni. For me, that is such a blessing to know that I could have a such a strong bond and relationship with someone who is so senior to me,” said the Delhi-born batsman in a video shared by RCB’s YouTube channel.

He continued, “It’s more like a friendship based on a lot of mutual respect, and that’s one of the things he mentioned in the same message reaching out to me. It was, ‘when you are expected to be strong and looked at as a strong individual, people forget to ask you how you are doing.”

Virat further added, “It hit home to me. I was like, ‘this is it’. I have always been looked at like someone who is very confident, very mentally strong, who can endure any situation and circumstance, find a way and show us the way. Sometimes, what you realise is that at any given time, you really need to take a couple of steps back and understand how you are doing, how your well-being is.”

The former Indian skipper is currently the leading run-scorer at T20 World Cup 2022, after hitting three half-centuries in five innings so far.