The only person who genuinely reached out to me has been MS Dhoni: Virat Kohli

Indian batting ace Virat Kohli has shared the words of encouragement he received from former Indian skipper MS Dhoni during his troublesome couple of years with the national team. Kohli revealed that the former Indian skipper was one of the very few people who reached out to him to know his well-being on two occasions. 

Virat Kohli's unceremonious departure as the Indian skipper followed by a lean run with the bat took a heavy toll on the star batter in the last couple of years. However, Kohli has revealed that apart from his childhood coach, his wife and close family members, former Indian skipper MS Dhoni had his back during his dark phase. He also revealed the words of wisdom that he received from Dhoni at that time.

"The only person who, apart from my childhood coach and family…genuinely reached out to me has been MS Dhoni. He reached out to me and you can rarely get in touch with him. If I call him on any random day, 99 per cent he will not pick up (the phone), because he just does not look at the phone. 

"So, for him to reach out to me…twice it has happened now and one of the things that he’d mentioned in the message while reaching out to me was that: ‘when you are expected to be strong and looked at as a strong individual people forget to ask how are you doing?" Kohli said on RCB Podcast Season 2.

Dhoni knows exactly what is going on, he understands it because he has been there himself: Kohli

Dhoni's advice did a world of good for Kohli as he took a step backwards to truly understand the whole situation. The 34-year-old feels that the World Cup-winning skipper knew about his predicament because he too has endured the same things during his illustrious career and it takes a lot of compassion to reach out to other people who are going through the same things.

“So, it (Dhoni’s words) hit home for me because I have always been looked at as someone who is very confident, mentally very strong, who can endure any circumstances and find a way and show us the way. That’s why I mentioned this particular incident because MS Dhoni knows exactly what is going on, he understands it because he has been there himself,” he added.

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