“There’s always a Line of Respect”, MS Dhoni shares his bond with Virat Kohli

Dhoni and Kohli, The incomparable duo of Indian Cricket have played together for a longer period of 11 years and have grown from Captain player relationship to friends. Kohli who made his debut under Dhoni’s leadership has received a lot of backing from the captain in his initial days that further grew their relationship.

In a recent Interview, MS Dhoni opened up about his friendship and relationship with Virat Kohli and spilled some tea over their bond which has grown from a mere captain-player relationship to Friends. However, Dhoni declined to reveal details of a text message he sent to Kohli during his decision to leave test captaincy. Dhoni who was interviewed at JioHotstar shared that he shares a good bond with King Kohli but also refused to reveal the text details that he sent to Kohli saying that he has worked hard to build a relationship with seniors and juniors of various teams where whatever their chats are kept between them.

‘I will talk about the relationship, not the message’: MS Dhoni

“I will talk about the relationship, not the message. I like to keep it the way it is. What it does is, it lets other cricketers come to me and ask if they have anything in their mind,” the 43-year-old said in an interview with JioHotstar before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.    

“They have the feeling: ‘Speak whatever you want to him, nothing will come out. Whatever we speak, a third person wouldn’t know it’. That trust is very important, especially for cricketers who you have not played with, who you might never play with. But, hey might need some help, regarding cricket, regarding life. So, I have kept it that way,” he added.   

Dhoni on Kohli’s journey and their relation

“Between me and Virat, you know, right from the start, he was someone who wanted to contribute, he was someone who was never happy with a 40 or 60, he wanted a hundred, he wanted to be not-out at the end and the hunger was there from the start,” Dhoni added in the interview. “The way he improved his batting, and his will to perform and keep performing, was what kept him going. He raised his fitness levels, and was always there on the field. He has always been like that.”

“He would come and discuss situations, analyzing what he could have done differently. For example, in a run chase, if he got out at a crucial moment, he would talk about whether he could have delayed taking a risk by an over or handled the situation differently. We had many conversations, and that helped both of us. It was always an honest exchange of ideas–whether a certain approach was right or if an adjustment could have been made. 

Initially, it was more of a relationship between a captain and a young player, but over time, as we kept interacting, we became friends. Even today, we share that bond, though there’s always a line of respect between a senior and a junior. Now that neither of us is captain, we get more time to talk before matches. Earlier, before the toss, we had to prepare and go, but now we can just stand and have a chat.” MS Dhoni said while speaking on Jio Hostar.

The duo has enjoyed quite a good time together in their cricketing sting and now shares the grounds in the Indian Premier League. Both will now be facing each other in the IPL clash on 28 March 2025 in chennai. It would be interesting to see what the duo offers to their fans in this clash.