Indian cricket has been shaped by two modern greats—Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. Despite arriving on the international scene at different times, their bond has been well-documented. Kohli even revealed that when he stepped down as India’s Test captain in January 2022, Dhoni was the only one who reached out with a message.
Recently, New Zealand pacer Neil Wagner shared an interesting story from India’s 2014 Test series against New Zealand, highlighting how differently Kohli and Dhoni reacted to bouncers.
Wagner Recalls Kohli’s Struggles Against Bouncers
Speaking on the Red Inker Cricket Podcast, Wagner revisited a tense duel at Eden Park.
“𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑲𝒐𝒉𝒍𝒊 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒅—𝒖𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑩𝑱 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈,” 𝑾𝒂𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
The left-arm quick added that Kohli’s hesitation provided him with confidence and belief.
Dhoni’s Calm Approach Stood Out
In contrast, Wagner explained that MS Dhoni appeared unbothered by the short-pitched deliveries.
“𝑫𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒊 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒚. 𝑰 𝒃𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒂 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒔, 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆,” 𝑾𝒂𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅.
The bowler emphasized how dismissing Dhoni gave him immense self-belief during the match.
Retirement Talks Stir Debate
In the past months, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both announced their retirements from Test cricket, with Cheteshwar Pujara also stepping away from the format last week.
1983 World Cup winner Krishnamachari Srikkanth criticized the lack of communication between the BCCI and senior players, suggesting that icons like Kohli and Pujara deserved a proper farewell.
“𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 100 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒅-𝒐𝒇𝒇. 𝑲𝒐𝒉𝒍𝒊’𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏. 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏,” 𝑺𝒓𝒊𝒌𝒌𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝑻𝒖𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒍.
He further added that Pujara too should have been given a respectful exit, stressing the importance of cooperation between selectors, the board, and the players themselves.
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