‘Ye to ego ki baat aagayi na’ – Shikhar Dhawan opens up on playing for India under junior Virat Kohli
Dhawan and Kohli (Source – Twitter)
Star Indian batter, Virat Kohli, has been India’s all-format captain from 2017 to 2022. He became the Test captain in 2014 after MS Dhoni retired from the format. In 2017, Dhoni stepped down from the limited-overs captaincy of the Indian team. The baton has now been passed to the opener Rohit Sharma who took over the responsibility from Kohli.
The veteran Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan, who has also captained the side in a few occasions, has spoken about playing under his junior Kohli. In an interview with Lallantop, the 37-year-old said that it will be an issue of ego if players think that they are playing under a junior, and it will make them envious of other players’ achievements.
‘Virat is a good friend of mine’ – Dhawan
“Agar ego par le loge to tussle aayegi hi aayegi. Ye to ego ki baat aagayi na. (It’s nothing like that. If you take it on the ego, it will hurt you. It is then a matter of ego, isn’t it?) If I continue to think that I’m a senior and I’m playing under him. Then there will be ego. It’s all frivolous thinking to me. And there’s no need to have that. It’s of no use,” Dhawan told Lallantop.
“Virat is a good friend of mine. We share good camaraderie and always enjoy healthy banter. He is a senior player at Team India. I can pull his legs, young players can’t. He’s a big player. We exude good humour and bonhomie since our early playing days,” he added.
Dhawan has been India’s main opener for the past few years, but now he is not in team India’s future plans with the additions of young players like Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan along with KL Rahul who is being backed by the management despite poor form. He lead the team in the ODI series against Zimbabwe, West Indies and South Africa in 2022 in the absence of Rohit, and team India had been victorious in all the occasions.
