If MS says two, I close my eyes and run, I know his judgement is so correct: Virat

New Delhi, November 5

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India skipper Virat Kohli is proud of the fact that no external force has been able to affect his friendship with MS Dhoni. “A lot of people try to plug in stories of a rift between us. The best part is neither he reads those articles, nor do I,” said Kohli. “And when people see us together, they wonder ‘wasn’t there a rift between the two’. We laugh and say we didn’t know.” 

Australian great Matthew Hayden had once said that Dhoni was someone who found those things funny that only seven-year-olds would. “I guess Hayden was not off the mark,” grinned the current India captain. “Lot of people don’t know but Dhoni has childlike enthusiasm. He gets intrigued by things easily and is always looking for something that will interest him.” 

Kohli recalled how he had shared an anecdote with Dhoni from his younger days and how the latter wouldn’t stop laughing. “I once told him a funny story from my U-17 days. It was my academy’s match. There was this new boy and I threw the ball to him and asked ‘kahaan se’. I meant which end he would bowl from, and he said: ‘Bhaiya Najafgarh se’! 

“When I shared this incident with MS, he started laughing. And this was happening when the match was on!” Kohli said.

The Indian skipper was full of praise for Dhoni’s cricketing acumen. “I don’t think I have ever come across a better cricketing brain in terms of planning, knowing what’s happening and what can be done. Obviously, I go by my instincts but whenever I ask him anything, eight or nine times out of ten whatever he says works,” he said. “MS and I have great understanding. While running between the wickets, if he says two, I just close my eyes and run because I know his judgement is so correct, I will make it.”

Funny and unassuming 

Asked about the funniest and unassuming characters in the team, Kohli named Hardik Pandya and Shikhar Dhawan. “Hardik carries an iPod and listens to only English songs. He doesn’t know even five words of any of those songs but he just grooves to the beat,” said Kohli.

“I’ve not seen a man more lost in his own world. He can say anything. A few days back, he was talking about Ashwin and this is what he said: ‘Yaar woh Ravi Kashyap Ashwin kya bowling karta hain (He is Ravichandran)’. No control on what he speaks but the most clean hearted individual.” 

Talking about Dhawan, Kohli recalled a hilarious incident from their Ranji Trophy days. “A new player had come into the team and he would keep complimenting me for anything and everything. I was getting irritated and while fielding in the slips, I told Puneet Bist (wicketkeeper) about it,” Kohli recalled.

“While Puneet told me he wasn’t a bad guy,  Shikhar used his mind and declared, ‘I guess he wants to come in your notebook’! Notebook? What’s that? And then I realised he meant ‘in my good books’. The match was on but Puneet and I couldn’t stop laughing. That’s Shikhar Dhawan for you,” Kohli said. — PTI