A big thank you to MS Dhoni who believed in me as a Captain and found me to be an able individual who could take Indian Cricket forward,” were Virat Kohli’s words as he announced his resignation as India’s Test captain. The bond that Kohli shares with Dhoni isn’t hidden from anyone, with the latter unarguably playing a big role in enabling the latter in becoming the cricketer he is today.

Kohli went on to succeed Dhoni as India’s Test skipper in all formats of the game. In 2014, Dhoni retired from the longest format, midway into the tour of Australia, leaving Indian fans flabbergasted. Three years later, Dhoni decided to step down as India’s limited-overs skipper, paving the way for Kohli to lead the team in all three formats of the game. 

Dhoni’s performances with the bat might have started to see a decline, but his cricketing brain and skills behind the stumps were unparalleled. More than that, the Indian team needed Dhoni to groom Kohli into a captain that he potentially could be. 

In an Instagram live chat, Kohli had himself revealed the role Dhoni played in his development as captain. He had said: “I was always in MS`s ears. He would deny a lot of things but discuss a lot also. I think he got a lot of confidence in me and a large part of me becoming captain has to do with him observing me over a long period of time. It can`t be that he goes to the selectors and just says, `Make this guy captain.` He has to take responsibility to identify the person and then slowly see how the guy develops. I think he played a big role in that and that trust you have to build over the course of eight or nine years”.

At the age of 33, Kohli’s has quit captaincy in all three formats of the game. While it was his own decision to leave T20I and Test captaincy, the BCCI opted to hand ODI captaincy to Rohit Sharma in order to have ‘one white-ball skipper’. 

It has already been ascertained that Rohit will be India’s new ODI and T20I skipper but the name of Kohli’s successor in Tests isn’t clear yet. Despite the anonymity over the roles of certain players in the team, Kohli’s new role in the team is as clear as it can be.

Stepping into MS Dhoni’s shoes

The Indian cricket team still hasn’t found the ‘finisher’ that Dhoni used to be. However, Kohli came close to being the captain that Dhoni was. In Test cricket, Kohli went past Dhoni by miles, and there’s no doubt about it. However, the lack of ICC titles in limited-overs cricket despite overall win percentage puts Kohli behind his predecessor.

But can Kohli step into Dhoni’s shoes as a mentor? Into his first assignment as a ‘pure batsman’ in the Indian cricket team for the ODI series against South Africa, Kohli has a big responsibility on his shoulders. In the absence of Rohit Sharma, Kohli will be what Dhoni was to him, to Rahul.

Though Kohli had said that he was keen to continue as India’s ODI and Test skipper, when he had announced the decision to quit T20I captaincy, it is time for him to leave the ‘alleged conflict’ behind for the larger good of the team. Grooming Rohit, Rahul, or whosoever takes up the leadership roles in the team, Virat needs to have his arm around them for the betterment of Indian cricket.

The BCCI swung the axe and stripped Kohli of ODI captaincy too, saying they can’t have two different players leading the team in the two white-ball formats. More than the changes themselves, it’s the manner in which the developments took place that re-triggered the age-old chatter of ‘lack of clear commination’ between the BCCI and the players.

After a few contradicting statements from Kohli, Ganguly, and the selectors, the Indian cricketing fraternity had barely moved on from the white-ball captaincy change debacle that Kohli announced that he has quit Test captaincy too.

The ‘final frontier’, as the South Africa challenge was touted to be, couldn’t see Kohli becoming the first Indian Test captain to lead the team to success in the Rainbow Nation. Kohli’s decision to leave Test captaincy despite being the team’s most successful skipper in the format has fans scratching their heads.

But, it’s the pace with which these changes have been witnessed, remains a fact that cricket lovers in India are still coming to terms with. From September to January, the Indian cricket world has been flipped upside down. But, as the saying goes, the game must go on!