Everyone knows the kind of love and respect Virat Kohli has for the former India skipper MS Dhoni. So, it is no surprise that Kohli paid a special tribute to Dhoni, who is celebrating his 41st birthday today.
Taking to Twitter, Kohli wrote that Dhoni is a leader like no other and he is like an elder brother for him. It was under Dhoni’s leadership that Kohli became the player that he is today and both stars have time and time again showed the kind of mutual respect they have for each other.
“A leader like no other. Thanks for everything you have done for Indian cricket. You became more like an elder brother for me. Nothing but love and respect always. Happy birthday skip,” tweeted Kohli.
When Dhoni had announced his international retirement in 2020, not many can forget the kind of posts Kohli had put out on his social media, showing the great camaraderie between the two. Kohli and Dhoni are two of the fastest runners between the wickets and their partnerships always showed the kind of trust they had in each other’s calls.
Dhoni had also groomed Kohli as the leader, and there were many instances when Kohli decided to take the opinion of the former India skipper when the going got tough during a game.
Fans will always remember Dhoni for finishing off tight games and how he won’t even break a sweat in taking his side over the line. The wicketkeeper’s first international ton had come in 2005 as he smashed a century against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam. Dhoni had made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004 but he did not have a good outing as he scored just 19 runs in the three-match series.
Dhoni, who entered international cricket with long hair, was seen as a young marauder and his comparisons with Australia were wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist were almost instant.
Dhoni went on to play 350 ODIs with his highest score being 183 against Sri Lanka. He also remains the only captain to win all major ICC trophies and, in his career, he was referred to as ‘Captain Cool’. The wicketkeeper-batter called time on his international career in August 2020.
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During his international and IPL playing days, Dhoni has always been known for his calmness and exquisite captaincy on the field. Over the years, he has cemented his place as one of the finest wicket-keepers across the world.
In December 2014, he had announced his retirement from Tests. He called time on his Test career after playing 90 Tests, in which he scored 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09. Then in 2017, he had handed over the captaincy to Virat Kohli in the white-ball formats.