Dhoni only one who genuinely reached out to me: Kohli

Virat Kohli recalled former team-mate Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the only person who reached out to him during a lean patch last year.

Kohli struggled for a couple of years before he bounced back during the Asia Cup and then hit a splendid match-winning century against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup. He has been in splendid form in ODIs, hitting three centuries in four ODIs.

Kohli revealed his strong bonding with Dhoni, saying he was 'only one who genuinely reached out to me'.

"What is interesting is that throughout this phase apart from Anushka, who has been the biggest source of strength for me because she has been with me throughout this whole time and she has seen me very closely as how have I felt, things that I have gone through, the kind of things that have happened...the only person who, apart from my childhood coach and family...genuinely reached out to me has been MS Dhoni," Kohli told Danish Sait on the RCB podcast.

Kohli shared the dressing room with Dhoni for 11 years between 2008 and 2019. He says Dhoni, who rarely uses his phone', called him twice during his tough times and shared some important messages.

“He reached out to me and you can rarely get in touch with him. If I call him on any random day, 99 percent he will not pick up (the phone), because he just does not look at the phone.

"So, for him to reach out to me…twice it has happened now and one of the things that he'd mentioned in the message while reaching out to me was that: ‘when you are expected to be strong and looked at as a strong individual people forget to ask how you are doing'

"So, it (Dhoni's words) hit home for me because I have always been looked at as someone who is very confident, mentally very strong, who can endure any circumstances and find a way and show us the way. Sometimes, what you realise is that at any given point of time in life as a human being you need to take a couple of steps backwards, understand how you are doing, how your well-being is placed," Kohli added.

"He has experienced what I have experienced right now. So, it is only out of the experience, and feeling those feelings in that moment is the only way you can be truly compassionate and understanding towards another individual who is going through the same thing."