Virat Kohli is responsible for MS Dhoni's recent transformation, says Sourav Ganguly
New Delhi: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has been a vital cog for Virat Kohli's side late in the batting order of late, has been on a record-making spree.
On Sunday, the former India skipper created yet another record when he notched up a fine 79-run knock against Australia at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Sourav Ganguly believes that Kohli has been the key factor behind MS Dhoni's solid performances in limited-overs this year.
"When players play for so long; MS Dhoni has played over 300 ODIs for India, they know how to get runs. More than 9000 runs for Dhoni in one-day cricket and he’ll get a few more by the time he finishes," Ganguly was quoted as saying to India Today.
"It’s the captain's confidence and Virat should get a lot of credit for it because he’s put a lot of faith in Dhoni and that allowed MS to play the way he wanted."
With 627 runs in 19 games at an average of 89.57, Dhoni has had a strong 2017 with his bat.
Dhoni played a calculated 79-run knock that saved India from early jitters and guided them to a 26-run win (D/L Method) in the rain-hit first ODI against Australia on Sunday. This was his 66th half-century in ODIs and 100th in international cricket.
"Players are made and players are broken by the faith you show in them. And I think Virat Kohli is responsible for what we are seeing of MS Dhoni today," Ganguly added.
Ganguly also heaped praise on Hardik Pandya, who hit a career-best 83 off just 66 deliveries and raised a 118-run partnership with Dhoni. The Baroda all-rounder then claimed two crucial wickets of Steve Smith and Travis Head to undermine Australia as they chased a truncated target.
"He’s (Pandya) getting better and that’s the best part of it. You can see the confidence, because of the performance with the bat, in his bowling. If you do well in one aspect of the game you automatically get better in the other aspect," said Ganguly.
"He’s got to think big because the job of an all-rounder is not easy. He’s fit, he works hard and for him the role model should be Jacques Kallis. I’m not comparing him with Kallis but he should start looking at putting in performances over a period of 10 years in all formats because he’s got ability."