The former Indian skipper and legendary wicket-keeper MS Dhoni openly admits that he is “not great” at “staying in touch” with people. Some of his teammates, including two double World Cup winners, have openly mentioned (either jokingly or seriously) that they’ve received a cold shoulder from Dhoni when not on the field.

However, Virat Kohli is not one of them. Kohli is among the few whom Dhoni has reached out to personally. The most notable instance was in January 2022, when Kohli stepped down as India’s Test captain ahead of the South Africa tour. Later, in September of the same year, after India’s defeat to Pakistan in the Asia Cup despite Kohli’s 60 off 44, the former captain revealed in a candid press conference how Dhoni’s text message during his tough times had motivated him.

“Let me tell you one thing: when I left Test captaincy, I got a message from only one person, with whom I had played previously; that was MS Dhoni,” Kohli said. “Many people have my number. On TV, people give lots of suggestions; people have a lot to say. But none of the people who had my number sent me a message,” Kohli said when he was asked.

Three years later, Dhoni finally spoke about the message he sent to Kohli when asked about it during a corporate event. Dhoni said: “It’s deja vu. I was asked a similar question in a JioHotsar show; you will see the answer during the IPL. I’m not great when it comes to being in touch with people but yeah, certain times when you someone needs you, you just drop in a message,”