Virat Kohli Doesn’t Need To Defend Dhoni, Says Kapil Dev

Former India skipper Kapil Dev has said Virat Kohli does not need to defend under-fire MS Dhoni from the recent criticisms and feels that latter is good enough to protect himself.

Dhoni has been facing the flak from several quarters for his surprising performance in the second T20 International against New Zealand at Rajkot earlier this month. Dhoni’s uncharacteristic not only derailed India’s chase but also put the pressure on a well-set Virat Kohli who eventually perished while attempting a big shot. The former India skipper had walked into bat when India were in dire need of some quick runs after being reduced to 67 for 4 in the 10th over while chasing a mammoth 197.

However, Dhoni could not play according to the need and took his time initially, huffing and puffing to 17 off the first 20 balls he faced before hitting Ish Sodhi for a maximum to get his strike-rate over 100. He eventually managed to score 49 off 37 but it did not help India to chase down the total as the hosts lost the game by 40 runs.

The 36-year old has was facing widespread criticism for his knock, forcing Kohli to come out in his defence. The likes of VVS Laxman and Ajit Agarkar had said that the wicketkeeper-batsman should make way for any youngster in the shortest format of the game.

However, Kapil Dev has said Dhoni will himself walk out when he finds out he is not good enough and advised Kohli not to defend the World Cup-winning skipper.

 “Virat Kohli doesn’t need to defend Dhoni. Dhoni is good enough to defend himself. He doesn’t need to be protected. The day he feels he is not good enough he’ll be out,” Kapil Dev was quoted as saying by India Today.

Earlier, Kohli had leapt in Dhoni’s defence, slamming the critics for taking a shot at his predecessor at every possible opportunity.

“First, I don’t understand why are people only pointing him out, I’m not able to understand this. 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,” Kohli had said after the third T20I against New Zealand.

“You have to understand, the position in which he comes out to bat, even Hardik [Pandya] could not score in that game. 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,” he had added.

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