Virat Kohli had replaced MS Dhoni as India’s Test captain in 2014 and then took the side to No. 1 in ICC rankings, while amassing 655 runs at an average of 109.16 in a 4-0 series victory over England in 2016-17.
He became the captain of the limited-overs teams in January 2017 and has scripted many memorable victories since then.
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On Saturday (May 30), Kohli credited Dhoni for his elevation to captaincy, saying the latter was observing his nuances of the game for six-seven long years.
"I think a large portion of me becoming captain was also to do with him (MSD) observing me for a long period of time. It just can't happen like he goes and selectors say 'you become captain'," the Indian skipper told teammate Ravichandran Ashwin during an Instagram chat.
"The guy who is there, he takes responsibility and says okay I think this is the next guy and I will tell you how he is going and then slowly that transition is formed."
"I think he played a big role in that and that trust you have to build over, say six-seven years, it just doesn't happen overnight," he added.
The transition also has a lot to do with Virat fielding at the first slip and picking Dhoni's brains on tactical moves.
"I think that is the transition that slowly happens, then with your entry in the game you start talking to the captain regularly.
"I was always in MS's (Dhoni) ears, standing next to him, 'yeh kar sakte ho, woh kar sakte ho (can we try these things), what do you think, he would deny a lot of things but he would discuss a lot of things as well, so he got a lot of confidence that I can do this (captain) after him," he said.
During the interaction, Kohli said he has always cherished taking responsibility.
"I was inclined to taking responsibility. Becoming captain of India was not even in my wildest dreams, to be honest. We all started playing at a similar time, I made my Test debut before you, you (Ashwin) made it just after in the next series.
"And after that it was all about wanting to play, wanting to be in the XI regularly, wanting to put my foot down and say I didn't play all the games but I wanted to be discussed whether this guy is good enough to play or not."
(With PTI inputs)
