MS Dhoni feels Virat Kohli will win more matches than him as captain
What’s the news?
MS Dhoni recently stepped down as the limited overs captain of the Indian cricket team, passing the baton to his successor Virat Kohli. During a recent interview, Dhoni said that he feels the Delhi-boy is going to win more games than him.
"If it is [about] the numbers, I think Virat and this team will win more games than me in all the formats,” said Dhoni to ESPNCricinfo.
"Though they are young, they have played a lot of cricket both in India and outside, and in pressure situations. They have played in knockout tournaments - when it comes to the ODI and the T20 formats - and they have played under pressure,” he added.
In case you didn’t know...
Dhoni is the most successful Indian captain of all time having led India to 110 ODI and 24 Test victories. He has won all the three major ICC tournaments, namely the ICC Cricket World Cup, the World T20 and the Champions Trophy, a feat achieved by no skipper in the world except him.
The heart of the matter
In 2014, Dhoni surprised everyone by retiring from Test cricket during India’s tour to Australia. Similarly, he stepped down from captaincy just before the start of the India-England ODI series, leaving Virat Kohli to take charge of the ODI team. Kohli has been pretty successful as a Test skipper having won 14 out of 21 Tests since he took over the responsibility in January 2015.
Also read: India won't change much under Virat Kohli, feels Jonny Bairstow
What’s next?
The first of three is ODIs is scheduled to start this Sunday in Pune, followed by the second and the third in Cuttack and Kolkata respectively. Soon after the ODIs, both the teams will face-off in a three-match T20 series.
India outclassed the visitors in the 5-match Test series, winning 4-0 by virtue of some outstanding performances by the Indian players, and England would definitely like to make a comeback in the remainder of the tour.
Sportskeeda’s take
It will be interesting to see whether the hosts keep up their good form in the ODIs and T20s as well, and more importantly, how Virat Kohli leads the team, So far, the right-hander has captained India in 17 ODIs and won 14 ties, but this will be the ultimate test for him to prove his worth as a leader of the pack for the future.