"He was not a big believer in..."- Ishant Sharma points out differences between MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli's captaincy

Ishant Sharma also said that MS Dhoni was not a big believer in meetings.

Veteran Indian pacer Ishant Sharma has opened up on the difference between MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli’s captaincy style. The right-arm pacer said that Dhoni always used to go with the flow of the match and plan on the field, while Kohli used to plan before the match and adapt according to the match situations.

MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli are often considered among the greatest players to have captained India. Dhoni is the most-successful white-ball captain of India, leading side to three ICC white-ball titles – T20 World Cup 2007, ODI World Cup 2011, and Champions Trophy 2013. On the other hand, Kohli is often credited for developing India into a dominating test side as he led the team to their first test series victory in Australia in 2018-19.

Ishant Sharma has been amongst the players who have closely seen both the captains as he played under them. He played under Dhoni’s captaincy from 2008 to 2014 and played under Kohli from 2015 to 2021. Although the Indian pacer is yet to announce his retirement from international cricket, his last game for India was back in 2021.

Ishant Sharma explains the difference between MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli’s captaincy

During a conversation on Raj Shamani’s podcast on YouTube, Ishant said that Dhoni always used to plan on the field, while Kohli kept a plan in place ahead of the game. This was the main difference in their captaincy.

“Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) ke team main difference kya tha? Mahi bhai aise insaan hai jo field pe cheezay karte hai. Unko field pe karna pasand hai. The planning occurred based on the game situation. (What was different about playing under MS Dhoni? Mahi bhai was someone who did things on the field. He liked doing things on the field),” he said.

“With Virat (Kohli), that wasn’t the case. There was a basic plan, and then based on how things progressed, we assessed and made decisions. MS Dhoni was not a big believer in meetings. He had a simple funda that you will learn only if you make mistakes. He thought that if you made one mistake and how much time you take to make the next mistake, that is consistency,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ishant was last seen in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, where he represented Gujarat Titans (GT). The right-arm pacer clinched four wickets across seven games for the side. Dhoni has been active in the IPL since he retired from international cricket in 2020. On the other hand, Kohli is gearing up for the ODI series against Australia next month.

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