India vs Australia | Fifth position is the best one for MS Dhoni, believes Virat Kohli

India won its first ever bilateral ODI series against Australia and MS Dhoni, who was declared a villain a few days ago for his slow-paced innings under pressure in the first ODI, turned the tables and won India the next two games. Dhoni was also adjudged the Man of the Series for scoring three back-to-back half-centuries in the series. He made 51, 56* and 87* respectively in the three matches thus making a total of 194 runs at the same average.

"He was more himself from that game (Adelaide) on, and he built onto this knock today. We are pretty happy with the batting combination that we had in Adelaide. When someone like Hardik Pandya is not there you have to balance somehow. So a lot of things vary in that regard. But we as a team, and myself as captain, we feel that Dhoni at five is the most logical. It is the ideal place for him and the team as well," Kohli said at the post-match conference as reported by PTI.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli was a relieved man at the press conference and stated that the team was very happy that Dhoni is amongst runs. Dhoni had a horrible 2018 in which he failed to get even one half-century and averaged 25 with only 252 runs to his name in the year.

"I think firstly as a team we are very happy for Dhoni. That he is amongst the runs because it is very important to get runs under your belt to get that rhythm and get that confidence back. Especially when you have not been playing so much international cricket," said the India captain at the post-match press conference. 

The skipper also backed the former captain and stated that people should just let the latter take his own decisions and added that Dhoni is one of the most intelligent cricketers capable of taking decisions on his own. 

After the 2-1 series victory, the Indian team will now move on to New Zealand where they will play five ODIs and a three-match T20I series against the hosts. 

"Many things happen on the outside. People say a lot of things but as an individual, we know that there is no one more committed to Indian cricket than Dhoni and people should let him have his space because he has contributed so much for the nation. 

"They should let him figure out things on his own and what he needs to do. He is one of the most intelligent cricketers and he is not someone who is not aware about what needs to be done. As a team, we are totally in sync with what he is doing and we are all very happy for him," said Kohli.