[Watch] "Whenever we get a chance, we go on the side and chat for sometime"- MS Dhoni opens up on his relationship with Virat Kohli
Former Indian captain MS Dhoni opened up on his relationship with star batter Virat Kohli both on and off the field, calling it always fun. The duo are arguably the two biggest names in Indian cricket, if not world cricket, of this generation.
While Kohli is third all-time in the ODI run-scoring charts with almost 14,000 runs, Dhoni is 11th with 10,773 runs. Kohli debuted for India under Dhoni in Sri Lanka in 2008 and the pair played for over a decade together.
The roles reversed during the latter stages of Dhoni's career with Kohli leading the side.
In a recent event, Dhoni was asked about his relationship with Kohli over the years and he responded:
"We have been colleagues who played for India for a very long time. He (Kohli) has been amongst the best when it comes to world cricket. And the fact that I could bat a lot with him during the middle overs was a lot of fun because we used to take a lot of twos and threes in the game, so it has always been fun. It's not like we meet very often, but whenever we get a chance, we make sure that we go on the side and chat for sometime, we'll talk about what is going on, so that is ourerelationship."
Here is a video of Dhoni talking about his relationship with Kohli:
Team India won two ICC trophies - the 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy under Dhoni with Kohli playing a massive role in both. Kohli wasn't in the team that won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007.
The duo have also been friendly rivals in the IPL, thanks to the heated battle between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli last played together for India in the 2019 ODI World Cup
MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli's last time together for India came during their heartbreaking 2019 ODI World Cup in England. While Kohli was leading the side, Dhoni was playing as the wicketkeeper.
The Men in Blue ran through the league stages and finished atop the points table. However, they suffered a painful 18-run defeat in the semi-finals against New Zealand to bow out of the tournament.
That became Dhoni's final game for India as he announced his international retirement a year later.
Dhoni and Kohli have been playing against each other in the storied CSK-RCB rivalry in the IPL.