Unfair to target Dhoni, says Kohli

Thiruvananthapuram, November 9
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has been cornered by criticism from a few former players, has received strong support from Indian captain Virat Kohli. Two days ago, VVS Laxman said that Dhoni should “give a chance” to younger players in T20I cricket — in other words, Laxman was advising Dhoni to retire from T20I cricket and sticking to only ODI cricket.
“I still feel it’s time for MS Dhoni to give youngsters a chance in T20 format. It will be an opportunity for a youngster to blossom and get confidence playing international cricket,” Laxman had said. “He is definitely an integral part of ODI cricket.”
Dhoni’s ability to hit fours and sixers at will has declined over the last two-three years, and he’s no longer finishing matches. In the Rajkot T20I against New Zealand, when India had a target of 197 to win, Dhoni got 25 off 24 balls during his partnership with Kohli, while the captain made 29 off 20. Experts say that Dhoni’s inability to give Kohli more strike during this partnership was a factor India lost the game.
Unfairly targeted
Kohli rubbished all such arguments. “First, I don’t understand why are people only pointing him out, I’m not able to understand this,” Kohli said. “If I fail three times, no one is going to point fingers at me because I’m not over 35. The guy is fit, he is passing all the fitness tests, he is contributing to the team in every way possible, tactically on the field, with the bat. If you look at the series against Sri Lanka and Australia, he did really well and in this series he hasn’t got much time to bat.”
Don’t get emotional!
“As team management and players, we understand the situations in which he goes out to bat,” Kohli added. “We don’t get emotional and excited by the opinions of people who are looking at things from a different point of view. If you are playing, you know how the wicket is and what the situation is like. So, I think he is doing absolutely fine.”
“He understands his game, he understands his role, but it doesn’t come off every time. He hit a six in Delhi and it was shown five times in the post-match show,” continued Kohli. “Everyone got really happy. And suddenly he doesn’t score in one game and we are after his life. I think people need to be a bit more patient. He’s a guy who understands various cricketers. He’s a very smart guy. He understands where he stands with his body, with his game. So I don’t think anyone else has the right to decide that for him.”