5 things that Virat Kohli learnt from Mahendra Singh Dhoni

The transition in leadership of the Indian cricket team has been completed days before the impending changeover of the POTUS. The dates of the two events are almost similar but the effects of the handover are expected to be entirely different.

People around the world and especially in the United States are fretting over the adverse consequences of the change in the White House. Meanwhile, Indian fans can celebrate the changeover because it lays down a promise of cheerful future for the Indian cricket team.

The reason behind sounding so optimistic for the team to whizz past the tricky road ahead is the ‘Dhoni-Kohli partnership’. The relationship which started out as a senior-junior twosome changed into a bromance oozing admiration for each other and finally culminated into envisioning each other’s minds.

The flow of ideas is inevitable. Transition does not marks the end of the old and the beginning of the new, it merely acts as a bridge between two fragments of time. The change has an imprint of both the old and the new times.

Here we look at 5 things that Virat Kohli has learned from Mahendra Singh Dhoni:

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#1 Backing his players to come good

Dhoni entrusted his belief in a bunch of young players. The group had Dhoni’s backing and the former Indian captain persisted with them for long till they finally made it grand at the big stage. Even Kohli has admitted that he was saved from being dropped out of the squad many times when by Dhoni. Kohli thus had the opportunity to go beyond his initial failures and become a batting great.

The Delhiite seems to have instinctively picked up this ideology of Dhoni. During the West Indies tour, Indian test batsman Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped for being a sluggish run-accumulator at the crease. The Indian captain realised the importance of sticking with Pujara and the batsman has not disappointed his skipper since returning to the Indian playing XI.

Despite his batting numbers in the longest format not evoking much inspiration. Rohit Sharma’s aggressive intent has been openly supported by Kohli. He too likes to give a player a long run in the team before evaluating his performances.

#2 Fostering team bonding

The 2011 World Cup celebrations had trademark of Dhoni’s habit of putting team before self

Dhoni hit the winning six in the final of the 2011 World Cup. Then he satisfyingly let Sachin Tendulkar's emotions of finally winning a World Cup take over the celebrations. The festivity was not about the team’s captain playing a match-winning knock in the finals. The mood was that of each player paying a tribute to the ‘god of cricket’ they had idolised as a kid.

Dhoni had the habit of letting the young players in the team not feel out of place. On numerous occasions, the former Indian captain happily occupied a corner in the champions’ photograph which had newbies in the middle with the trophy. No second guesses on the young players would feel like being on the seventh heaven.

Being a part of the unit under Dhoni, Kohli has realised the advantages of having a good team spirit. Kohli openly exhibited his disappointment at Karun Nair’s run-out in his debut test match. At the post-match presentation, he assured Nair of a chance to play in the next game. Result – Nair made a historic 303*.

To come to terms with what the young players exactly need their captain to make them do better, Kohli can actively be seen having on-field communication and boldly appreciating a youngster’s performance.

#3 Taking the onus to win the match for the team

Kohli has taken over the role of winning matches for India from Dhoni

Kohli at the moment is playing like a man who has no limits to his abilities. The Indian captain is in that zone where it would be no crime to think that he can win matches for the country on his own. The Delhi batsman lets off his disappointment when he is unable to take his team across the finish line.

Dhoni himself has come to be known as one of the greatest finishers the game has ever seen. The wicketkeeper started off as a care-free batsman thrashing the ball around. But when the situation demanded, Dhoni moulded his game to ensure that India won more matches.

Kohli’s predecessor put himself in tough situations lower down the order, put a heavy price on his wicket, and stitched several memorable partnerships to guide the team home.

#4 Intolerance to fielding lapses

Kohli has taken forward Dhoni’s culture of placing value on good fielding

Dhoni defied everyone’s panacea on how to deal with pressure situations. His ever-expressionless cool head did not make us believe that he was human. But the only thing that miffed him was bad fielding. Dhoni insisted on having good fielders in the team and bashed some of the players’ lack of proper attitude when fielding.

An incident in the first ODI against England in which Kohli failed to cleanly gather the ball on two occasions. he was able to trap the ball the third time around and celebrated the moment by showing the ball to the crowd. The series of events testifies the importance Kohli puts on the fielding.

#5 Strange tactics

Dhoni’s tactics were inexplicable at times

Unorthodox fielding positions, long spells by part-time bowlers, and late declarations were some of the aspects of Dhoni’s captaincy not understood by many. Dhoni’s gambles paid off for the team number of times. All in all, he made for a riveting personality and captivated the minds of cricket fans all over the world.

Employing strange tactics to change the fortunes around seems to be one of the ideas Kohli has picked from Dhoni.

Kohli’s tactics in the first ODI have also been questioned by some. Leaving out the man of the series from their previous ODI assignment Amit Mishra out of the playing XI did not make much sense. Kohli let the part timers bowl in the 43^rd over of the innings and could not control the damage inflicted in the death overs. He though silenced the critics with a masterclass while batting.