There was always trust and faith: Virat Kohli opens up on his relationship with former India captain MS Dhoni

Virat Kohli's special bond with former Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni is a secret to none. The two greats of the game shared a great rapport and their camaraderie was for everyone to see both on and off the pitch. Kohli has often spoken about his admiration for Dhoni and recently explained what made their relationship special.

Dhoni and Kohli have headlined India's success in international cricket over the past decade. While Dhoni led the Men in Blue to numerous memorable triumphs, including the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup, Kohli helped India dominate across all three formats after taking over the baton in 2017.

Kohli had made his international debut under Dhoni's captaincy and the former captain always backed the superstar batter right from the start of his career. Despite struggling in Tests initially, Kohli had Dhoni's backing and was not dropped from the team despite his average performances.

Dhoni's decision later helped India reap rich rewards as Kohli went on to become one of the best batters in the world. Opening up on their bond, Kohli said his relationship with Dhoni was based on trust and understanding. The former India captain said he never had to call for a run when he used to bat with Dhoni as they had an amazing understanding.

“What I experienced with my friendship and relationship with MS is very difficult to explain in words because its based on understanding and trust. We never actually, you know when people talk about batting together in calling for runs as soon as the ball went to the gap, we never called because I knew he is running for 2, I'm running for two. Yes, a misunderstanding once in about 10-12 years maybe, but apart from that we were so focused always on what the team wanted and what we need to do for the team all the time,“ Kohli said on The ICC Review Podcast.

“So there was always that trust there was always that faith between each other that we are going to get the job done for the team. And within that faith and trust then the relationship evolved outside the game," he added.

Unlike in the past when there have been tussles between the outgoing and incoming captains in Indian cricket, the transition from Dhoni to Kohli was a smooth one as the two leaders shared a mutual respect for each other. Kohli said it was unusual for a few watching from the outside but for him and Dhoni, it was normal.

"We spoke on many things, we understood each other's mindset absolutely clearly and the support he provided me in my early days was absolutely crucial for my growth. And then towards the later half of his career, I was constantly there for him and the transition between two captains for the outside world it was like 'Wow we have never seen this happen before and all that but for us, it was quite normal, it was never even occurring to us that he's the captain or I'm the captain now,” said the India superstar, who quit all forms of captaincy earlier this year.