"Warner Bros should make a nice a movie out of it" - When MS Dhoni sarcastically responded to rumors of a rift between Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli
Before Rohit Sharma's humorous press conferences became social media fodder, another former captain MS Dhoni also entertained the media with his wit and, at times, sarcasm. Unlike Rohit, though, who has that hilarious streak, Dhoni could at times be a bit too cheeky when it came to answering queries with a dose of humor.
One such incident was witnessed during India's Test tour of Australia in 2014-15. The hosts were struggling to compete with Australia in the first two Tests. To make matters worse for India, there were rumors of a rift between senior batters Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan.
At the press conference after Day 4 of the second Test in Brisbane, Dhoni was quizzed about rumors of a dressing room spat between Dhawan and Kohli. He wryly responded (as quoted by NDTV):
"Actually that was the case. Virat used a knife. He stabbed Shikhar, who just recovered out of that then we pushed him to bat. These are all stories. Marvel, maybe Warner Bros or somebody should pick up this and make a nice a movie out of it."
"Journalists start making their own stories during Indian tours. If somebody from the team has actually told you this, it'd be interesting if you could give us the name. Because his imagination is really brilliant and he should be working for one of the movie companies. He doesn't deserve to be in our dressing room, because he has entirely created something that has not been there at all," the then Indian skipper added.
"As far as the reality is concerned, there's been nothing like that," he said, while concluding his thoughts on the controversy.
Dhawan had injured his hand during practice ahead of Day 4 in Brisbane. As a result, Kohli had to walk out to bat with Cheteshwar Pujara instead of the opener. Rumors soon started doing the rounds that Kohli and Dhawan had an altercation since the former was peeved over having to bat at short notice.
Dhoni retired from Test cricket after the 3rd Test of the 2014 series in Australia
Amid claims of a rift in the Indian team, fans were in for another shock as Dhoni retired from Test cricket after the third match of the 2014-15 series in Australia. The Test match in Melbourne ended in a draw, with the captain returning unbeaten on 24 in the second innings.
In the wake of Dhoni's unexpected retirement, Kohli was named captain for the New Year Test in Sydney. The fourth Test also ended in a high-scoring draw, but Australia clinched the series by winning the first two matches.