Mahendra Singh Dhoni's inputs will be priceless: Virat Kohli

Pune: Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s inputs from behind the stumps will be “priceless” to the Indian cricket team, says skipper Virat Kohli, ahead of the first ODI against England, in Pune.

Kohli, who was functioning as the captain of the India Test side, will take over as the skipper across all three formats of the game after Dhoni relinquished his limited overs captaincy, earlier this month.

However, when asked about Dhoni’s role in the team post captaincy, Kohli said that the wicketkeeper-batsman’s inputs will be priceless.

“I will have my preparations first but his (Dhoni’s) views will be priceless,” said Kohli, during the pre-match conference, in Pune.

"His views will be priceless for me, as well. But I will have my preparation first and keeping his views in mind, maybe I will follow my instinct for a bit more (time) and then maybe switch to a different plan B from a different point of view."

Kohli also revealed one particular area where Dhoni could be particularly useful to Team India.

“His word would be the one I would trust on DRS. He is the most intelligent cricketer around,” he said. “(I) Saw a stat that 95 per cent of Dhoni's appeals have been successful. He's one person I would trust as far as DRS is concerned.

“Me and Dhoni have always understood our kind of operation out in the middle. His views will be priceless,” said Kohli.

"With the burden of captaincy not being there anymore, I am sure he will be able to express himself as a batsman, experiment a bit with his offensive game that he displayed when he came in. It's not that he didn't afterwards. (But) He was calculative with it, understanding the team situation."

India steamrolled England 4-0 in a five Test series under Kohli’s captainship, last year. Now, the two sides are set to resume their rivalries, as they are set to play three ODIs and three T20Is, starting from Pune, on Sunday.