Twitter
Advertisement

Virat Kohli responsible for MS Dhoni's recent transformation, believes Sourav Ganguly

Dhoni brought up his 66th half-century in ODIs and 100th in international cricket on Sunday.

Latest News
article-main
MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

After a quiet year or two with the bat, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has come back strong. With 627 runs in 19 games at an average of 89.57, Dhoni has had a strong 2017 with his bat. In recent matches, he has rescued Team India on more than one occasions with his vital contributions.   

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly believes that current skipper Virat Kohli has been the key factor behind Dhoni's solid performances in limited-overs this year.

"When players play for so long; MS Dhoni has played over 300 ODIs for India, they know how to get runs. More than 9000 runs for Dhoni in one-day cricket and he'll get a few more by the time he finishes," Ganguly was quoted as saying to India Today.

"It's the captain's confidence and Virat should get a lot of credit for it because he's put a lot of faith in Dhoni and that allowed MS to play the way he wanted."

Dhoni played a calculated 79-run knock and struck a 118-run partnership with Hardik Pandya that saved India from early jitters and guided them to a 26-run win (D/L Method) in the rain-hit first ODI against Australia on Sunday. This was his 66th half-century in ODIs and 100th in international cricket.

"Players are made and players are broken by the faith you show in them. And I think Virat Kohli is responsible for what we are seeing of MS Dhoni today," Ganguly added.

Ganguly also heaped praise on Hardik Pandya.

"He's getting better and that's the best part of it. You can see the confidence, because of the performance with the bat, in his bowling. If you do well in one aspect of the game you automatically get better in the other aspect," said Ganguly.

"He's got to think big because the job of an all-rounder is not easy. He's fit, he works hard and for him the role model should be Jacques Kallis. I'm not comparing him with Kallis but he should start looking at putting in performances over a period of 10 years in all formats because he's got ability."

(With Agency Inputs)

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement