My gut feeling driven by logic and experience: Dhoni

July 7, 2014

Nottingham, Jul 7: Being instinctive is seen as Mahendra Singh Dhoni's best attributes but the man who has captained India to unprecedented highs in the last seven years reveals that his often talked about gut feeling is backed by cold logic.Dhoni

In a rare interview on his 33rd birthday, Dhoni recollected the time he was made captain before the World Twenty20 in 2007, how he dealt with the senior players, his leadership style and how it is to shoulder the team of a cricket crazy nation.

Talking about the trait which helped him guide India to the No.1 Test sport, 2011 World Cup, 2007 World Twenty20 and most recently the Champions Trophy last year, Dhoni says he relies on his past experiences to act instinctively on the field.

"I don't plan a lot and believe in my gut feel. But what many people don't understand is that to have that gut feel, you have to have experienced that thing before," Dhoni told the bcci.tv.

"For instance, you don't know anything about bikes. I open one of my bike engines and keep it in front of you and ask you 'which model does your gut feeling say this engine belongs to', you will be clueless. You won't have a gut feeling because you don't know anything about the object there.

"My gut feeling comes from my past experiences of all the cricket I've played in my life and the situations I have faced. It's not something you just feel for a moment without any logic," said Dhoni, who faces one of the biggest challenges in his career when India take on England in the first of five Tests at Nottingham from July 9.

One could feel a lot of pressure as a leader in the presence of seniors in the dressing room, something Dhoni had to deal with when Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly were around. But now he leads a side in transition.

"The best thing about the senior players was that with their experience they had a lot of ideas and suggestions to give me. But more importantly, if I didn't agree with some things they said, I could tell them so.

"They were absolutely fine with it and after 10-15 minutes would again come up with a different idea or options and then leave it to me, give me a few deliveries to think about it and decide."

"That really gave me the comfort of knowing that I can be honest and straightforward with them without the fear of offending them. Because of them I was able to be myself and develop my own style of captaincy," Dhoni said lauding the "Big Four".

How are things now? "Right now the situation is very different. Although I am leading a young team, I don't like to give a plan that the bowler is not comfortable implementing. So I let the bowlers start off with their own plan and own fields and encourage them to think for themselves."

He is one of biggest of names in world cricket but seven seasons ago not many would have thought that the wicketkeeper-batsman would achieve what he has and possibly there is more to come with the 50-over World Cup early next year.

Dhoni admitted he was surprised at his elevation and said Tendulkar played a role in it.

"It did (surprise me), because I was never really aiming for captaincy. For me, being a part of the team is much more important than being the captain."

On Tendulkar's role, he said, "I think it was more about the interactions that I had with them. For instance, whenever Sachin came on to bowl – and because he could bowl so many different deliveries – he would ask me what the best ball would be – seam-up, leg-spin, off-spin – depending on the wicket and the batsman. Perhaps the honest opinions I gave him at these points made him believe that I read the game well."

How does he rate the big trophies India have won under his captaincy?

"I don't think I will ever be able to pick one and say, 'this is the closest to my heart'. They all are," said Dhoni.

Last but not the least, he gave a sneak peek into what he plans to do post his playing days.

"The good thing is that I do collect a lot of stumps but the bad one is I don't put a mark as to which match they were from. So, after I retire I'll watch the videos of all my matches, look closely at the sponsors logos on the stumps and figure out which match a stump belongs to. It will be my post-cricket pass time!"

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News Network
March 2,2020

Mar 2: Indian captain Virat Kohli was left frustrated and deflated as New Zealand won the second Test inside three days in Christchurch on Monday to sweep the series.

India started the day at 90 for six and were all out for 124, before New Zealand chased down the required 132 to win for the loss of three wickets in 36 overs.

It ended a disappointing tour for India and Kohli as New Zealand, who won the first Test by 10 wickets early on day four, wrapped up the series with ease.

New Zealand are now unbeaten in their last 13 home Tests, winning nine of them, and in the past decade their record as hosts is played 39, won 20, drawn 13 and lost five.

In the latest series, on traditional New Zealand green wickets, India managed scores of 165, 191, 242 and 124, reflecting the low contributions from Kohli of 2, 19, 3 and 14.

Kohli came to New Zealand as the world's top Test batsman and oozing charm as he described New Zealand as the “nice guys” of cricket.

But during the series he lost his top ranking to Australian Steve Smith and when Kane Williamson went for three in the first innings of the second Test the pressure showed when he gave the New Zealand skipper a very animated send-off.

There was further evidence of frustration when he was caught on camera yelling an obscenity at a group of New Zealand supporters on Sunday.

The end came quickly for India on day three as Tim Southee and Trent Boult tormented the batsmen with their variety of inswing and outswing deliveries targeting both sides of the stumps.

Hanuma Vihari was the first to fall, in Southee's second over, when he turned a legside delivery too fine and was caught by BJ Watling diving to his left.

Five balls later and with no addition to the score, India's other overnight batsman Rishabh Pant was caught behind off a Boult delivery that swung away.

Mohammed Shami was caught for five by Tom Blundell at deep mid-wicket and Jasprit Bumrah was run out when trying to give the strike to Ravindra Jadeja, who was unbeaten on 16.

Boult and Southee signed for most of the dismissals with Boult taking four for 28 and Southee three for 36. The swing pair accounted for 25 of the 40 Indian wickets in the series.

There was enough seam and swing available for India to keep the New Zealand batsmen guessing but Bumrah and Umesh Yadav were unable to apply consistent pressure and Mohammed Shami was troubled by a sore shoulder.

New Zealand coasted through a century opening stand by Tom Latham and Blundell before losing three quick wickets.

Latham notched his 18th half-century and second of the Test before he was caught behind off Yadav for 52, Kane Williamson had a short stay for five, and Blundell went for 55.

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News Network
May 6,2020

May 6: They have similar impact on their teams but Virat Kohli is driven by sheer passion to subdue the rivals while Steve Smith just enjoys batting, says Australia opener David Warner.

India skipper Kohli and top Australian batsman Smith are arguably the top two cricketers of the current era. They achieve new milestones consistently, invoking debates, who is better between them.

"Virat's passion and drive to score runs is different to what Steve's would be," Warner said while speaking to Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"Steve is going out there for a hit in the middle, that's how he sees things. He's hitting them out in the middle, he's having fun, he's enjoying himself, just does not want to get out."

Warner feels, while Kohli is batting he is aware that if he sticks around the middle his team will be on top of the proceedings.

"Virat obviously doesn't want to get out but he knows if he spends a certain amount of time out there, he's going to score plenty of runs at a rapid rate. He's going to get on top of you. That allows the guys coming in, especially in the Indian team you've got a lot of players who can be flamboyant as well."

The Australian opener added that both men are mentally strong and a good knock by them boosts the morale of the entire team.

"When it comes to cricket, they both have got the mental strength, the mental capacity to score runs. They both love spending time in the middle.

"They stabilise, they boost morale - if they score runs, everyone else's moral is up. If they are out cheaply you almost sense that on the field that everyone is (down on morale and thinking) 'now we all have to step up'. It's a very bizarre situation," he added.

Asked about the similarities between himself and Kohli, who are both live wires on the field, Warner said the passion to do better than the opponent keeps him going.

"I can't speak for Virat, obviously, but it's almost like we got this thing in us when we go (out to the middle) we need to prove people wrong, prove someone wrong."

"If you're in that contest, and if I'm going at him for example, you're thinking, 'Alright, I'm going to score more runs than him, I'm going to take a quick single on him'. You are trying to better that person in that game. That's where the passion comes from."

Warner also explained how he breaks down a match into smaller competitions.

"Obviously you want to win the game but you almost break it down to: If I can score more runs than Virat, or if Pujara scores more runs than Steve Smith, you have these little contests and that's how you try to narrow the game in the sense that if we do these little things, we can be ahead of the game or we can be behind the game.

"The passion is driven by...I know my sense - one, the will to win and two, wanting to do better than that person in the opposition," said Warner.

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News Network
April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said people seem to have become more compassionate while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and hoped the sense of gratitude towards frontline workers like doctors and police personnel remains even after the crisis is over.

Speaking in an online class organised by "Unacademy", Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma spoke at length about the challenges they faced before tasting success.

"The one positive out of this crisis that we as a society have become more compassionate. We are showing more gratitude to the frontline workers in this war, be it police personnel, doctors or nurses.

"I hope it stays this way even after we overcome this crisis," said Kohli with Sharma seated next to her.

Kohli said the pandemic has taught the world a very important lesson.

"Life is unpredictable. So, do what makes you happy and not get into comparisons all the time. People have a choice now how to come out of this phase. Life is going to be different after this," said the skipper.

For Sharma, the pandemic has forced people to care about the basics in life.

"There is a learning in all of this. Nothing happens without a reason. If the frontline workers were not there, we would not have access to basics," she said..

"This has taught us that no one is special than the other. Health is everything. We are more connected as a society now," she added.

During the session, Kohli was asked about the moment when he felt most helpless.

"I felt nothing was working for me when I was not picked for the state team initially. I cried the whole night and asked my coach 'why did I not get selected'?" he responded.

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