‘Mahi bhai phone nahi uthate..’: Virat Kohli’s remarks on MS Dhoni goes viral, details inside

Star India batter Virat Kohli shares a special bond with former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni but very few of us know that what makes the relationship between two legends working, both on the field as well as off the field.

Speaking on the RCB Podcast Season 2, Kohli opened up about his relationship with Dhoni and said, “I have experienced a different kind of phase in my career currently. It’s been a while since I felt (this) free in the sense how I felt all these years of playing at any level of cricket.”

“What is interesting is that throughout this phase apart from Anushka, who has been the biggest source of strength for me because she has been with me throughout this whole time and she has seen me very closely as how have I felt, things that I have gone through, the kind of things that have happened…the only person who, apart from my childhood coach and family…genuinely reached out to me has been MS Dhoni.”

Kohli and Dhoni played together for India for over a decade and the two have helped India win several matches between 2008 and 2019.

“He reached out to me and you can rarely get in touch with him. If I call him on any random day, 99 per cent he will not pick up (the phone), because he just does not look at the phone. So, for him to reach out to me…twice it has happened now and one of the things that he’d mentioned in the message while reaching out to me was that: ‘when you are expected to be strong and looked at as a strong individual people forget to ask how are you doing?’ remarked Kohli.

Kohli is associated with RCB since 2008 and he was appointed the team’s captain in 2011 but he stepped down as RCB skipper in 2021.

Kohli further added, “So, it (Dhoni’s words) hit home for me because I have always been looked at as someone who is very confident, mentally very strong, who can endure any circumstances and find a way and show us the way. Sometimes, what you realise is that at any given point of time in life as a human being you need to take a couple of steps backwards, understand how you are doing, how your wellbeing is placed.”