Virat Kohli was delighted after catching up with MS Dhoni before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 opening match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Friday, March 22 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Kohli started his international career by playing under Dhoni back in 2008. Over the years, Kohli developed immense respect for Dhoni for helping him grow as a batter and captain.
Apart from his meeting with Dhoni, the 35-year-old Kohli also sounded excited about playing in front of “passionate” fans at the Chepauk.
“Playing against Chennai is obviously always a special occasion, a big game, and the southern derby as they call it,” Kohli told RCB Bold Diaries before the opening game.
“It’s nice to play in front of very passionate Chennai fans. And good to catch up with MS, it’s been a while,” he added.
Back in December 2014 during the tour of Australia, Kohli took over from Dhoni as Team India’s Test captain. Then in 2017, Dhoni passed the baton to Kohli in ODIs and T20Is as well. After last donning the national colours in the 2019 World Cup semi-final, Dhoni retired from international cricket.
MS Dhoni steps down as CSK skipper
Before the IPL 2024 opener, Dhoni resigned as the captain of the Super Kings. On Thursday, it was Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was named as the new skipper of the 5-time champions.
“MS Dhoni has handed over Chennai Super Kings’ captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of the start of TATA IPL 2024,” CSK wrote in a statement.
“Ruturaj has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings since 2019 and has played 52 matches in IPL during this period. The team looks forward to the upcoming season,” the statement added.
Apart from winning the IPL 5 times, Dhoni also led the Super Kings to 2 Champions League T20 titles. In 2022, Ravindra Jadeja replaced Dhoni as the CSK skipper, but the latter returned to the helm when his team struggled at the beginning.
