A Song of Ice and Fire: Why MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli are so good together, explains VVS Laxman

Usually having a former captain in the team is somewhat of a tricky situation in a team, but for Team India the presence of MS Dhoni in the Virat Kohli-led side seems like a wonderful gift. Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni seem to share a good camaraderie and have a brilliant mutual understanding. Their friendship seems to be based on warmth yet respectful detachment as well an admiration of each other's talents. 

When MS Dhoni, India's most successful captain, cleared the way for Kohli to take charge, he had no doubt that Kohli would go on to win more matches than he did. Kohli, for his part, went on to say that had learnt a lot from his predecessor and Dhoni will always be his captain. And the Dhoni-Kohli dynamics has paid dividends for the team so far, with great success in the limited overs format. 

Dhoni still plays a supporting and guiding role from behind the stumps. He is always present to help the bowlers and sometimes the captain with his advice. On the other hand, Virat seems to respect and value Dhoni's suggestions.  

Former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman revealed the real reason behind the successful on-field relationship between two of the biggest names in Indian cricket. He said that Dhoni has the advantage as being a wicketkeeper, it helps him to have the best view to set different and appropriate field placements.

"It is not only a brilliant moment of today's game (in Pune on Wednesday) but it has been a brilliant moment from the day Virat Kohli became the captain in the ODI format. It is so good to see the rapport between Kohli and Dhoni. He has got the advantage of being a wicket-keeper, who has got the best view of the angles as far as field placements are concerned," said Laxman in the post-match show.

Laxman believes that the incorporation of Kohli's aggression and Dhoni's calmness will work wonders for the successful fortunes of the Indian team at the 2019 ICC World Cup.

"Without having any ego, Kohli approaches Dhoni and that is a credit to Kohli. Dhoni has abundance knowledge and experience, above that he has got so much of respect, so Kohli depends a lot on Dhoni. This relationship will help India, going forward to 2019 World Cup. Dhoni is a mentor of the India team," VVS concluded.