The 2014 Test tour of England was a nightmare for Kohli.
Following that awful series, questions were raised over Kohli’s technique and it had taken him some months to get back to his usual self.
Recently, veteran West Indies wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin recalled the 2014 ODI series against India in which former captain MS Dhoni helped Kohli regain his form.
“I remember one instance when Virat (Kohli) wasn’t getting any runs, he just came off an England series. We were there for a one-day series and we got Virat out once or two cheaply,” Ramdin said in an exclusive chat with cricket.com.
After Kohli got out for just 2 runs in the ODI series opener, Dhoni pushed him to No. 4 slot in the second game in which he scored 62 runs, showing signs of forms. The third ODI was abandoned due to rain while Kohli returned to his No. 3 position to score a ton in the fourth match.
“He (Dhoni) didn’t drop him. He said look, rather than bat at number three, I’m going to put you at four or five. In one game, he (Kohli) came in at number four or five and scored a century (half century, actually) and that was it. He was back to his normal self,” Ramdin added.
Further commenting on Dhoni’s captaincy, the West Indies cricketer said: “Sometimes, understanding your players, not discarding them is important. Other teams might have gotten rid of their players, he still backed Virat. I think he’s (Kohli) going to be one of the best batsmen who’s ever played the game. His passion as well for the game and you have to give Dhoni a lot of credit.”
“Dhoni is a wonderful human being. He always said he wants to be remembered as a humble servant or a great human being and not for all the stuff he did on the cricket field. I think that is important, that says a lot about him,” he concluded.