Five-time IPL-winning captain MS Dhoni has refused to disclose the contents of his text message to former teammate Virat Kohli when the latter was tackling challenges in international cricket. In 2022, Kohli had said that there was only one person who reached out to him after he relinquished Test captaincy, and it was his former captain Dhoni.
Three years later, Dhoni said that he will talk about the relationship he has with Kohli but will not reveal what he said to him. The reason behind keeping it secret is that he wants the youngsters to trust him that whatever they said to him will remain confidential, whether it is about cricket or about the issues in their personal lives.
"I will talk about the relationship, not the message. I like to keep it the way it is. What it does is, it lets other cricketers come to me and ask if they have anything in their mind," the 43-year-old said in an interview with JioHotstar before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
"They have the feeling: 'Speak whatever you want to him, nothing will come out. Whatever we speak, a third person wouldn't know it'. That trust is very important, especially for cricketers who you have not played with, who you might never play with. But, hey might need some help, regarding cricket, regarding life. So, I have kept it that way," he added.
A couple of years earlier Kohli had said that during his tough phase, the only cricketer who reached out was Dhoni. The legendary Indian captain talked to Kohli on two occassions, supporting him while he was battling it out in international cricket.
Dhoni on Kohli's journey as player and their relationship
Dhoni talked about how Kohli's 'hunger' has impressed him. He revealed that Kohli was never content when he left the run chase midway. He also talked about having more time to interact with Kohli when Chennai Super Kings (CSK) take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) as they are no longer captains of the respective franchises.
"Me and Virat, right from the start he was someone who wanted to contribute. He was someone who was never happy with 40 or 60. He wanted to score a hundred and remain not out in the end. That hunger was there right from the start.He quickly improved his batting, and that will to perform and score was what kept him going. He raised his fitness levels. He has always been like that," the wicketkeeper-batter said.
"He would come and talk to me, asking questions like, ‘What could I have done differently here?’ He would tell me he got out at a particular moment in a chase. We had a lot of conversations. That really opened us up.
"I gave him honest opinions. That’s how the relationship grew. It was more of a captain and a newcomer at that point in time. But once you keep interacting, you become friends.
"I still feel that there is a line in the middle - of a senior and a junior. But we are still friends. So, we have an amazing companionship. Both of us are not captains now, which gives us more time together before the toss," he added.
RCB's poor record in Chennai
RCB and CSK got their IPL 2025 campaign off to a good start with a win against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Mumbai Indians (MI) respectively. The two legendary players will go up against each other on March 28 as CSK play RCB at their homeground. RCB have struggled at MA Chidambaram Stadium. They haven't won a single game in Chennai since the inaugural edition.