Kohli’s a superhuman, Dhoni has ice running through his veins: Shane Watson

Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson compared the different leadership skills between Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni and explained his experience working with both the captains. Watson announced his retirement from IPL after the 2020 edition. He is definitely among the legends of the cash-rich tournament, having scored 3874 runs in 147 games with four centuries and 92 wickets as well.

Watson was part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore set up in the 2016 and 2017 editions under Kohli’s captaincy and the franchise made the finals in 2016 as well. He then moved into the Chennai Super Kings in 2018 when he played as a pure batter and had immense success under Dhoni’s leadership. In fact, Watson claimed his second IPL title by becoming the 2018 champions with CSK. He missed out on another title to finish runners-up in 2019.

Virat knows how to push players around him: Shane Watson

Watson noted that Kohli has been sensational with the amount of expectation he has within himself and around his players and credited his superhuman abilities to get the job done. He also acknowledged the fact that Kohli is a fantastic person off the field and was delighted to have worked with him at RCB.

“Virat as a leader has done incredible things, the way he has been able to push players, he has got such high expectation from himself and he brings that to every game he plays. For me, I believe Virat is a super human, he knows how to push players around him. Virat is an incredible good guy, he is a well-balanced character off the field, knowledge he has is fascinating. It was a great experience for me to work with Virat at RCB,” Watson said on the ‘ICC Review’.

Watson went on highlight Dhoni’s pressure-handling skills and explained the way Dhoni gets everyone to believe in their abilities. He added that Dhoni’s instinct and his trust over the players have been a key feature of his captaincy. The 40-year-old will be the captain of CSK again for this IPL 2022 edition.

“MS Dhoni has got ice running through his veins, his ability to take the pressure out of a team environment, he trusts his players, he makes sure everyone has faith in their abilities. He knows what works for himself and people around him. He trusts his instincts on the field, he trusts that players will do their research and do what is needed on the field,” he added