Virat Kohli Close To Legend Status, Says MS Dhoni

Former India skipper MS Dhoni has lavished praise on his predecessor Virat Kohli, calling him the best. Dhoni also said that Kohli is close to gaining the legend status.

Kohli has become the batting mainstay of this current team across all the three formats. In just 10 years since his debut for India, the 29-year old already broken several world records in all formats of the game and is looking good to break many more in the coming years.

At just 29, he has already slammed 57 international tons and 83 fifties including six double centuries in Tests. He is the second leading centurion in ODIs and is on the verge of reaching 10,000 ODI runs.

Earlier this week, Kohli became the No.1 ranked Test batsman in the ICC rankings for batsmen, after his 149 and 51 in the first Test at Edgbaston. The India skipper became the seventh India batsman and first since Sachin Tendulkar in June 2011, to top the rankings.

And Dhoni believes Kohli is close to getting the legend status. The World Cup-winning skipper also lauded his teammate’s leadership skills and wished him all the best.

“Virat is the best. He has reached a status where he is close to legend status. I am very happy for him. The way he has batted everywhere and the last few years he has been brilliant taking the team forward. That’s what you want from a leader. All the best to him and very well done,” he said at an event in Mumbai.

Dhoni further said that India would give England a run for their money in the ongoing Test series despite losing the series-opener. Dhoni said that the current team’s ability to take wickets put them in contention to give England a good challenge.

“To win a Test match you need 20 wickets. And we did that. That’s all I will say. It doesn’t matter how well you bat and how well you are there for five days but if you take 20 wickets, you can win a Test match,” he said.