Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni (AFP Image)
Under MS Dhoni’s captaincy India were under ‘transition’ says Ishant Sharma, but it helped Virat Kohli get a ‘complete package’ when the latter took over captaincy
Former India pacer Ishant Sharma has revealed how MS Dhoni laid the seeds for the success of Virat Kohli’s tenure as captain. Sharma revealed that during Dhoni’s captaincy, India were under a transition period, but by the time Kohli stepped up to the fore, the Men in Blue were a ‘complete package’.
Dhoni led the Test team from 2008 to 2014, before stepping down as captain and retiring from red-ball cricket altogether midway through the series against Australia. Virat thus got his first taste of captaincy in Test cricket, and later he replaced MS Dhoni as India’s all-format captain in 2017.
Sharma recalled how many of the current crop of Indian pacers such as Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and others made their debuts under Dhoni’s captaincy before going on to hit their peaks under Virat.
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“When Virat was captain, bowling was complete. When we were playing under Mahi bhai, we were in a transition phase. At that time, Shami and Umesh were new, and only I was there. Everyone else would rotate. Bhuvi was also new. There is no match for Mahi bhai as a communicator,” Ishant Sharma told Jiocinema.
“But, what he did was groom the bowlers and leave them with Virat. Shami and Umesh, over time, became different bowlers, and then, Jasprit came in. So, he got a complete package,” added the veteran pacer.
Both Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni are among the most successful captains to lead the Men in Blue across all formats.
Sharma, who played with Kohli since the U19 days revealed the one quality that separated Virat from others was that he had the tendency to bring out the best in his bowlers by identifying their traits.
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“The best thing he did was identify everyone’s traits, that he used to talk about one thing with one person and then let them be,” said Sharma.
Virat had stepped down as India’s T20I captain in 2021 before Rohit eventually replaced him across all formats in 2022, although the 36-year-old hasn’t played in T20Is since last year’s World Cup with Hardik Pandya leading India in the shortest format.