Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni are two of the finest captains that India has ever produced. While Dhoni won India all the three ICC trophies under his reign, Virat has the most number of wins in Test cricket. However, the two leadership styles were radically different, as were the individuals on whom they relied. There are many players who Dhoni tried to put into India’s core lineup, but Virat did not. Here are the players that MS Dhoni backed but Virat Kohli did not.
Manish Pandey
Manish Pandey was a promising young player who made history by being the first Indian player to score a century in the Indian T20 League. He was expected to be India’s next big thing and made his debut under MS Dhoni’s captaincy in 2015. In 2016, he also hit a brilliant century in Australia.
However, he never was consistent, and his place in the team was never certain when Kohli took over the captaincy. He has always been in and out of the Indian team. He last played for India in 2021 when India toured Sri Lanka for a white-ball series. He only played in the ODI matches and not the T20I matches in the series.