Virat Kohli Clears Doubts Surrounding MS Dhoni's Future as a T20I Player

Team India skipper Virat Kohli has cleared the doubts surrounding the position of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the T20I’s after growing talks about his place in the T20I team. Kohli stated the fact that it is unfair to blame MS Dhoni solely for the loss in Rajkot as a more natural hitter Pandya was also not able to find the gaps during the chase of 197.

In Rajkot, DDhoni scored 49 of 37 deliveries but by the time he started hitting the big shots, the match was already gone. Virat Kohli played a good hand and kept India alive in the chase but it was too much for the liking of the other batsmen as the Men in Blue fell short by 40 runs Addressing the press conference following India’s yet another series victory at Thiruvananthapuram Kohli said Dhoni is still an asset to the team despite VVS Laxman’s comments that Dhoni should make way for a youngster at least in T20I’s.

“First, I don’t understand why are people only pointing him out, I’m not able to understand this,” Kohli said on Tuesday (November 7) after India sealed the T20I series by 2-1 in Thiruvananthapuram. “If I fail three times, no one is going to point fingers at me because I’m not over 35. The guy is fit, he is passing all the fitness tests, he is contributing to the team in every way possible, tactically on the field, with the bat. If you look at the series against Sri Lanka and Australia, he did really well and in this series, he hasn’t got much time to bat.

“You have to understand, the position in which he comes out to bat, even Hardik [Pandya] could not score in that game,” Kohli said. “Then why are we only pointing out one man? Hardik also got out in the last T20 that we played in Rajkot. We are conveniently targeting only one man which is not fair. We also have to look at the fact that by the time he comes in, either the run rate is already eight-and-a-half or nine-and-a-half and the wicket is also not the same when the new ball is bowled.

“Also, the batsmen who are set from the top, they find it easier to strike the ball straightaway compared to the guys who come lower down the order. And the kind of wicket that we have played on, the wear and tear have been much more in the latter half. You have to assess everything.”

Earlier in the year, it was youngster Rishabh Pant who was included as the 2^nd keeper during the T20I series against England but since then his loss of form has given Dinesh Karthik the opportunity to make yet another comeback. Kohli emphasised the fact that the team management was in full support of Dhoni and wasn’t perturbed with the opinions from different people.

“As team management and players, we understand the situations in which he goes out to bat. We don’t get emotional and excited by the opinions of people who are looking at things from a different point of view. If you are playing, you know how the wicket is and what the situation is like. So, I think Dhoni is doing absolutely fine. He understands his game, he understands his role, but it doesn’t come off every time.

“He hit a six in Delhi and it was shown five times in the post-match show. Everyone got really happy. And suddenly he doesn’t score in one game and we are after his life. I think people need to be a bit more patient. He’s a guy who understands various cricketers. He’s a very smart guy. He understands where he stands with his body, with his game. So I don’t think anyone else has the right to decide that for him.”