T20 World Cup 2021: "He makes a difference when he is in a leadership role in any team" - Virat Kohli on MS Dhoni mentoring team India

Team India captain Virat Kohli has said he is delighted to have MS Dhoni on board as a mentor for the impending T20 World Cup 2021. He believes having someone like Dhoni around could do wonders for the morale of the players.

During the International Cricket Council's (ICC) captain's call, Kohli asserted that the former India skipper was also very excited about his new role with the team. The young campaigners will benefit tremendously from Dhoni's presence, according to Kohli.

He added how the wicketkeeper-batsman had mentored him during his early days with the Indian team. The champion cricketer believes the Indian squad can learn several aspects of the game from the veteran, considering his immense experience. Here's what he said:

"He's quite excited about getting back in this environment. He has always been a mentor for all of us when we were starting our careers at the time he played and now he has the same opportunity to continue the same again. Especially for the younger guys who are in the early stages of their careers, just the experience that he has gained over the years and having conversations with him about the game."

"Such practical inputs and such intricate details of where the game is going and where we can improve. He makes a difference when he is in a leadership role in any team, absolutely delighted to have him in this environment. He will certainly boost the morale of the team further," - said Kohli.

"It was a challenging call" - Virat Kohli on leaving out Yuzvendra Chahal for Rahul Chahar

Yuzvendra Chahal's absence from India's T20 World Cup 2021 squad has raised many eyebrows as he has been a regular fixture in the side for white-ball matches in recent years.

Kohli revealed they went ahead with Rahul Chahar looking at his impactful performances in the Indian Premier League. Furthermore, he pointed out that the crafty leg-spinner had also impressed against the likes of Sri Lanka and England.

It was a challenging call. We had decided to back Rahul Chahar for a reason. He has bowled amazingly well in the last couple of IPLs. A guy who bowls with pace, did well bowling the difficult overs in Sri Lanka as well as against England at home," added Kohli.

India open their T20 World Cup campaign on October 24 with their clash against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. While there is always a significant buzz when the two teams square off irrespective of the stage, Kohli stated that he never gets carried away with the hype around those matches.

"I've always approached Pakistan as just another game. I know there's a lot of hype created around this game. I don't think we make anything extra out of this game. The environment on the outside, from fans' point of view, is different. We players stay as professional as we can," - he added

India squad for the T20 World Cup 2021

Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami.

Stand-by players: Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Axar Patel.