MS Dhoni will remain valuable and is on same page with Indian team management: Virat Kohli

MS Dhoni has always put the interest of Indian cricket in mind and is “on same page” with the team management as far as his international future is concerned, skipper Virat Kohli said on Saturday.

On the eve of the T20 International series against South Africa, Kohli maintained that the 38-year-old Dhoni will “remain valuable” as long as he continues playing the game even as team management grooms youngsters like Rishabh Pant.

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“One great thing about him (Dhoni) is that, he thinks for Indian cricket. And whatever we (team management) think, he is on the same page. The alignment is there. The kind of mindset he has had about grooming youngsters and giving them opportunities, and he is still the same person,” Kohli replied when asked if the legend is in his scheme of things for next year’s World T20 in Australia.

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Dhoni has taken a two-month sabbatical from cricket and is not a part of the T20 International series against South Africa starting on Sunday.

While Kohli reminded the scribes about Dhoni’s ability to prove his detractors wrong, his answer on his impending international future was a bit open-ended.

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“Look, experience is always going to matter whether you like it or not. I mean there are a numerous number of times people have given up on sportsmen and they have proved people wrong and he (Dhoni) has done that many times in his career as well. As long as he is available and continues to play, he is going to be very valuable,” Kohli said.

“When you decide to stop playing is an absolutely individual thing, and no one else should have an opinion on it, that’s what I think,” he added.