India vs England 2016/17: Virat Kohli seeks MS Dhoni's assistance to enhance the captaincy trade

What’s the story?

The transition from Captain Dhoni to Captain Kohli seems to be well underway for the Indian team. And as we have seen time and again, the chemistry between the two remains impeccable as the new King of Indian cricket (i.e. Virat Kohli) was seen time and again picking the brains of the former maestro (i.e. MS Dhoni) during the England series.

In the last T20 against England held on 1st of February at the M.Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore, India was defending a huge score of 202. Kohli, as has been the norm this series, was seen engaged in long chats with Dhoni as well as seniors like Ashish Nehra.

“I have said this before, and you would have seen this on the field- I take a lot of advice from MS and I’m always speaking a lot to Ashish Nehra too,” Kohli said. “In the ODI series, I was talking to MS a lot. Although I have captained in the Test format for a while, ODI and T20 games move very fast. So to take advice from a person who has captained the side at this level for so long and understands the game really well is never a bad idea at crucial situations,” added Kohli.

In case you didn’t know...

In the last T20I against England, the visitors had their moments with the bat but in the tight situation, India handled the pressure better. Kohli and Co. in fact, couldn't have scripted the T20I series better. After losing the first game, they came back strongly to beat England for the first time in the shortest format of the game.

With 202 on the board, India seemed have been taken the driver’s seat in the contest. But with Eoin Morgan and Joe Root at the crease, the score seemed gettable in the 12th over.

The heart of the matter

The game, however, turned on its head after a splendid 14th over of the innings by Chahal in which he picked up three wickets. Following that Kohli wanted to bring Pandya into action. But Dhoni had other plans.

The former skipper instead suggested to bring the main bowler, Jasprit Bumrah in for the 15th over. Bumrah only conceded four runs and took the key wicket of Buttler. The rest was history; the 16th over by Chahal swept England’s morale and Bumrah finished the match with the last wicket in 17th over.

England needed 84 from the last 6 overs and Kohli wanted to get another filler over from Hardik Pandya who had been expensive in his first two going at a rate of 8.50 runs per over. Dhoni, however, wanted to bring in Bumrah.

Dhoni’s advice paved India to clinch the game and thus the series as well. In the 16th over, Chahal picked up three more wickets as England were blown away. Bumrah finished matters in the 17th over with England losing their last eight wickets in the space of eight runs.

What’s next?

Throughout the England series, in Tests, ODIs and the T20s, the team has seen the emergence of new talents and new heroes. Whilst Jayant Yadav made his mark in the Tests, the likes of Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya proved to be the sensations in the limited-over game. The growth of Chahal in the T20 series has been exceptional. According to Kohli, this mentality stems from a collective need to grow beyond individual contributions.

With emerging talents, India will have a balanced team for the upcoming Bangladesh series.

Sportskeeda take

Virat Kohli obtained the results he desired as a captain. Winning all the three series is a fact of appreciation and great calibre. This young team seems to be in the right hands of the aggressive captain. And with MS Dhoni there to guide him along the way the future of the Men in Blue seems bright.