The sign of a great leader is someone who is not rigid with his decisions and is ready to take advice from others, especially when those others are players with much vaster experience than him. Virat Kohli showed on Wednesday, in a must-win game, that listening to MS Dhoni when required can reap huge rewards and help him become a better captain, especially in the blink-and-you'll-miss-it limited-overs formats.
India vs England 3rd T20 highlights
Having posted an imposing, but chaseable total of 202 in the third T20 international in Bengaluru, Kohli looked for some advice from former captain Dhoni and the experienced bowler Ashish Nehra to help him make the bowling changes that are so crucial while defending a total.
England were, at one point, very much in the game, with Eoin Morgan looking extremely dangerous and Joe Root looking to anchor the chase, before Yuzvendra Chahal turned the match around by picking up five wickets in two overs.
Jasprit Bumrah then came and finished off the match to hand India a comprehensive 75-run victory and a series win.
"Bringing on Bumrah right after that over from Chahal, I was thinking of giving [Hardik] Pandya another over instead," Kohli said. "[Dhoni and Nehra] suggested that let's not wait till the 19th over and instead bring on the main bowlers.
"So these things really help when you are a new captain in the limited-overs format. But again, I am not new to captaincy, but there has to be a balance between understanding the skills needed to lead in shorter formats. MS has been helping a lot on that front."
Kohli admitted Dhoni and Nehra helped him throughout the limited-overs series as he slowly but surely comes to terms with captaining the India team in white ball cricket, where the pace of the game is quicker, which in turn means you do not have too much time to think when making decisions, with instinct and listening to the experienced players around you playing a big role.
"I take a lot of advice from MS and am always speaking a lot to Ashish Nehra too," Kohli added. "In the ODI series, I was talking to MS a lot.
"Although I have captained in the Test format for a while, ODI and T20 games move very fast. So to take advice from a person who has captained the side at this level for so long and understands the game really well is never a bad idea in crucial situations."
More such teamwork, even in leadership, from India and they will be a real force when the ICC Champions Trophy comes calling in June.
