MS Dhoni : South Africa series was the last series for me as captain

01/13/2017

In his first press conference after stepping down as India's ODI and T20 captain, MS Dhoni has reiterated that he will always be there to help Virat Kohli. Dhoni also said that his stepping down now, or from Test captaincy earlier, was no knee-jerk reaction and was made based on the bigger picture.

"For me the last series was the one against South Africa, that was the reason why I went to Zimbabwe. Split captaincy does not work in our scenario and my views did not change after I quit from Test cricket. Limited overs captaincy is not a big challenge and Virat is ready for it now," said Dhoni, who spoke to the press for the first time after stepping down India's limited-overs captain.

The 35-year old said that he will always be there to give his wisdom to new captain Kohli, but not to interfere with his views.

"The keeper is always the vice-captain whether announced or not and my role will be to assist Kohli. Different people like different fields so that depends on Virat and I will adapt accordingly. I will be there to give as many suggestion as possible. I will have to consult him and can't go left and right on my own," Dhoni said.

Speaking about his decision to quit captaincy, Dhoni felt that it was the right time to step down looking at the bigger picture.

"It made no sense for me to continue. People even questioned me when I quit midway through the Test series in Australia. Sometimes you need to look at the bigger picture. I knew Saha was ready and he deserved a chance. Similarly, Virat is well placed to take over the limited overs captaincy," Dhoni explained.

India's World Cup-winning captain also praised the qualities of Virat Kohli terming him as a player who always wanted to win matches and hoped that the Delhi-born batsman will only get better with time.

"From the beginning of his career he wanted to learn and there was a hunger to win matches. He wanted to be in the middle of it all."

"He will keep getting better with more responsibility. ODIs is a slightly easier format to captain and my job will be to assist him whenever I can. How the batsmen are batting, their strengths and weaknesses. Flowing of information and give him as much information as possible," he added.

Dhoni was also positive that there is not going to be any difference between him and Kohli because of the camaraderie they enjoy.

"The kind of relation we have, if I go up with 100 ideas to him, he can say no to all because we have that comfort level. The more I can serve to him and the more he can pick and choose will be better for Indian cricket."

MS Dhoni : South Africa series was the last series for me as captain

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