Two of the most popular Indian cricketers of the modern era, Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, have achieved enormous success in their profession. The Indian team has prospered under the leadership of both the players while the two players were also masters of pulling off a successful run chase in the second innings. The fans loved to see the partnerships between these two batsmen because they controlled the match through their sound batting skills.
Kohli focuses more on strike rotation and hitting boundaries at regular intervals. At the same time, Dhoni is someone who loves to take the game to the final stage before delivering the knockout punch to his opponents. In this article, we will have a look at the top five best partnerships between Kohli and Dhoni international cricket.
122 vs. New Zealand, 2012
Talking about a rare match-winning partnership between Kohli and Dhoni in Test cricket, the two right-handed batsmen thrived the Kiwi bowlers in Bengaluru during a Test match featuring India and New Zealand in 2012. New Zealand scored 365 runs in the first innings and then reduced the home side to 80/4. Later, Kohli played a magnificent knock of 103 runs, and the skipper supported him with a fifty as they took the team’s score past 300. Ultimately, India won the game by five wickets, and Kohli won the Man of the Match award.
128 vs. Australia, 2013
This Test match is very close to the hearts of Chennai Super Kings fans because the fans at Chepauk witnessed their Thala play the best innings of his life against Australia. The visitors scored 380 runs in the first innings and then dismissed the top order before India could touch the 200 runs mark. Kohli tried to rescue the innings with a century, but Dhoni slammed 224 runs off 265 balls to ensure that India wins the game by eight wickets.
151 vs. New Zealand, 2016
The most recent entry on this list is from the ODI series played between India and New Zealand in 2016. During the 3rd ODI of the series, India got a target of 286 runs. Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane lost their wickets early as Kohli and Dhoni had the onus of rebuilding the innings. Virat stayed unbeaten on 154* while Dhoni departed after scoring 80 runs as the duo took the team near the target. India won that match by seven wickets.
152 vs. Bangladesh, 2010
During an ODI match between India and Bangladesh in 2010, the home side set the visitors a stiff target of 297 runs in Dhaka. They dismissed three Indian batsmen inside the first nine overs as the pressure was high on the chasing side. Fortunately, Kohli and Dhoni came to the team’s rescue as they added 152 runs for the fourth wicket before Kohli lost his wicket on 91. Dhoni went on to score 101* as India won the fixture in the 48th over.
198 vs. England, 2012
It is surprising to note that this magical duo has never had a 200 runs partnership in international cricket. Their best partnership of 198 runs came against England in 2012 at Nagpur. Playing on a rank turner, Kohli and Dhoni helped India draw the match by building a slow stand for the fifth wicket. The partnership lasted for nearly 85 overs, where both the batsmen had a strike rate of less than 45. The Indian fans lauded the two batsmen for their robust defensive batting techniques.
