Legendary MS Dhoni has received a lot of flak for his less-than-stellar performances for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the ongoing IPL 2025. It all went down to an extent that fans started speculating about CSK legend's retirement after their clash against Delhi Capitals (DC). Amidst the wave of criticism, Dhoni once again grabbed attention by surprisingly omitting Virat Kohli in his dream India line-up.
When posed the interesting question of which players, regardless of their era or country, he would love to see play together, the former Indian captain raised eyebrows by completely leaving out modern-day icon Virat Kohli. Dhoni, during an appearance on Raj Shamani's podcast, instead chose to highlight Indian legends from the early 2000s.
MS Dhoni ignores Virat Kohli in his dream line-up
Dhoni named his former teammates Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, and Sourav Ganguly as players he'd love to have in his dream lineup. Dhoni also made sure to give a special nod to Yuvraj Singh, fondly remembering the legendary all-rounder for his unforgettable feat of hitting six sixes in a single over against England.
Despite Dhoni's selection of revered players, the omission of Virat Kohli, who has consistently been India's highest run-scorer across all formats of the game, left many fans scratching their heads. Many have pondered the reasons behind Dhoni's decision to seemingly overlook a player to whom he once entrusted the captaincy of the Indian team. Dhoni did offer some insight, stating that the players he named were individuals he grew up watching and deeply admired.
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Staying true to his characteristic understated style, MS Dhoni offered a clever and straightforward explanation for his avoidance of naming a dream XI. He recounted an instance from one of his previous press conferences to illustrate his reasoning. Dhoni clearly stated that he doesn't subscribe to the idea of comparing legendary players or having to leave anyone out of such a selection, and therefore, he refrains from creating a dream team.
“I have never picked one. The reason is simple. The thing that cannot be, I once said in a press conference, he asked me about one individual who was injured, who wasn't available. So, I asked him about it, and he said, 'Brother, tell me one thing: what can a team member do for me? Or what can he do for the team? Why are you talking about the one who is not there'?,” Dhoni said in the podcast.
“There is something like that in India; the one who is not in the team is the better player. Somehow, whether he is injured or not. But the fact is he is not available for selection. The amount of impact he can have on the game is zero. I will worry about the people who can actually have an impact on the game,” he added.
Dhoni recently faced a lot of criticism following CSK' third consecutive defeat in the IPL 2025 season following their 25-run loss against Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 5. Dhoni, despite remaining not out, scored 30 runs off 26 balls against DC. Dhoni will next be seen in CSK's clash against Punjab Kings at the Mullanpur stadium on April 8.