Kohli not too cool with Dhoni

After keeping India’s cricket establishment and fans guessing about his stance on skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the just concluded ODI series against Bangladesh, Virat Kohli has finally expressed during an interaction with host broadcasters Star Sports. Importantly, the Test skipper didn’t stop short of expressing his displeasure at the way decisions were taken during the series.
Not exactly known to mince words, Kohli made it clear during the interaction that he was not happy with the way things were handled in the three-match series. He underlined that lack of clarity in the players’ minds was evident in their approach to the game.
“Credit goes to the Bangladesh team for the way they have played. We are not expressing ourselves like we normally do and are used to,” he said.
While Kohli has stood by Dhoni in these testing times, the team has worn a dejected look in the ODI series. It prompted all and sundry to question what exactly has changed, apart from the fact that Dhoni has walked back into the team as skipper. When prompted by the interviewer to point out the reason behind Team India’s disappointing show in the series, Kohli stirred up a hornet’s nest by clearly questioning the approach of the team.Earlier, Kohli got offspinner Harbhajan Singh back in the test team, giving indication that Dhoni was more interested in keeping his Cheanni Super Kings teammates in Test and ODI teams.
On being asked why the series has panned out the way it has, Kohli went a step further: “Not too happy with the way we have played. We have been sort of doubtful in our decision-making and that shows on the field.”
But he was clearly not done yet, and clarified his stance. “I don’t need to say it in an interview; our cricket watchers and experts can see it (that) our guys are not sure enough to express themselves. In the first two games, we failed to express ourselves with clarity of mind,” Kohli said.
Interestingly, the statement comes immediately after teammates Suresh Raina and R Ashwin openly backed skipper Dhoni on the eve of the third ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur. While Raina tweeted an old picture of himself with Dhoni with the hashtag ‘respect’, Ashwin told the media that it was time to rally behind his captain.
Even Dhoni – not known to worry too much about the fate of a game or series – offered to step down after India lost the series on Sunday. Though it was later termed a sarcastic jibe, it does raise questions on whether captaincy is finally taking a toll on Captain Cool.