T20 World Cup 2022: “I always looked at him”- Virat Kohli on his overall growth as a cricketer

Senior batter Virat Kohli recently opened up on his growth in international cricket. He credited former Indian captain MS Dhoni with guiding him on his journey to the top.

The Delhi batter said the veteran wicket-keeper’s inputs were always valuable to him, whether it was batting or reading a game as skipper. He also explained his smooth captaincy transition from vice-captaincy to captaincy across formats.

Kohli became India’s most successful Test captain after taking over the reins from Dhoni in Australia in 2014. He helped India win 40 out of 68 Tests, including 11 draws.

The 33-year-old also helped the Men in Blue win 65 out of 95 ODIs and 30 out of 50 T20Is. He also led them to the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup.

Speaking to the ICC Review, he said:

“The transition between two captains for the outside world, it was like ‘Woah, we’ve never seen this happen before’ and all that, but for us, it was quite normal. It was never even occurring to us that he was the captain or I am the captain now. For me, he was always the same guy.”

He continued:

“I always looked at him the same way, it’s just that I had the decision-making responsibilities after a certain point, but his input was always valuable for me.”

It is worth mentioning that Kohli retired from the T20I captaincy after the 2021 T20 World Cup. The veteran also stepped down as a Test skipper in January 2022. He, however, was sacked as ODI captain after his decision on Test leadership.

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“I was always in his ears” – Virat Kohli explains MS Dhoni’s hand on his rise in international cricket

Kohli also spoke about how MS Dhoni played a significant role in helping him with his game awareness regarding batting, fielding, or leading a team.

“I was always in his ears when I was vice-captain and he was captain, reading the game, looking at the game, giving him options, being in the fielding positions that I should be in and for the team, batting the way I did for the team for so many years.”

Under Dhoni's reign, Kohli began to reach great heights of success and helped the Men in Blue win several matches in white-ball cricket. He will look to step up again for India at the T20 World Cup in Australia.

The right-handed batter also loves playing in Australia and has scored 451 runs in 10 T20I innings at an average of 64.43 Down Under, including five fifties.

He will be a crucial cog as the Men in Blue aim to lift their second T20 World Cup trophy after a 15-year gap.