“Why do you watch Virat Kohli?” – MS Dhoni’s words of wisdom for PBKS star during IPL

Punjab Kings (PBKS) batter Nehal Wadhera has expressed his gratitude to legendary India captain MS Dhoni for his words of wisdom during the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 25-year-old revealed that Dhoni used Virat Kohli’s reference to explain to him the difference between an ordinary and a great player. The Punjab-born player shared that he took the message seriously and tried to make amends in his batting.

Speaking to Taruwar Kohli’s YouTube channel, Wadhera said:

“I had gone to Mahi bhai’s room, and we were having tea, and he said - What is the difference between an ordinary player and a great player? Why do you watch Virat Kohli? He said that the time period of a particular mistake is very long for that person.”

“I liked that message, and I started making points about things that I need to work on, what can benefit me, so I do those things,” he added.

Wadhera also shared Kohli’s message to him during the IPL season. The youngster added that the legendary batter asked him to work on rotating the strikes. He continued:

“I talked to Virat Kohli in the first season. I asked him, ‘Virat bhai, you saw my batting, what do I need to work on?’ Actually, I made my debut against RCB. I scored 21, hit two sixes, and then went for the third. There was an adrenaline rush.”

“He [Virat Kohli] told me to rotate the strike since you already got the runs with those maximums. Looking at your batting, it seems like you can hit a six anytime, so practice more on taking singles in the nets. You should be able to take singles at will. Since then, I started working on my singles,” he added.

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“I was really shocked that they knew my name” – PBKS star to his first encounter with Suryakumar Yadav and five-time IPL-winning captain

Nehal Wadhera further expressed his shock that India captains Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav knew his name when he joined the Mumbai Indians (MI) camp in the IPL 2023 season. The PBKS batter also pointed out that Yadav encouraged him for his breakthrough domestic season. He said in the same video:

“(Time with MI) First day itself, Rohit came to me himself and enquired how I was. Suryakumar as well. I was really shocked that they knew my name. When I went for trials at MI, Suryakumar came up to me and said, 'Amazing domestic season, you did very well.' I felt very good after hearing that. Interestingly, I never had a hi or hello with him before.”

Notably, Nehal Wadhera scored 369 runs in 15 innings at a strike rate of 145.84, including two half-centuries in the IPL 2025 season. His contributions helped PBKS reach the final. The youngster previously represented MI during the 2023 and 2024 seasons.