World Cup 2019: MS Dhoni is captain for Virat Kohli on ground, says Suresh Raina

He had played two crucial knocks in the quarter-final and semi-final of 2011 that helped India a long way in conquering the cricketing world. Suresh Raina featured in the Indian playing XI till last year but the limited-over specialist eventually failed to make it to his third World Cup, thanks to fitness issues. Ahead of the 2019 World Cup, the two-edition veteran praised MS Dhoni, under whose leadership he had played in the 2011 and 2015 tournaments.

The 32-year-old southpaw who was once a regular member of the Indian team in the Dhoni era and still plays alongside him for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) called Dhoni “the captain for Virat” on the ground. Currently, on a holiday tour in the Netherlands, Raina said India captain Virat Kohli is much more confident when Dhoni is keeping.

“On paper, he’s (Dhoni) not the captain. On the ground he’s the captain for Virat I think. His role is still the same. He communicates with the bowlers from behind the stumps, coordinates the field placements. He’s the captain of the captains. Virat feels confident when Dhoni is behind the stumps. He has always acknowledged that,” Timesnownews.com cited reports quoting the hard-hitting Raina who though had a quiet this year.

Raina, who has a century across the three formats, something that even Kohli doesn’t have yet, had scored two vital 30 not outs against Australia in the quarter-final and Pakistan in the semi-final of the 2011 World Cup that helped India reach the final and eventually win the tournament.

This is a very big World Cup for Dhoni, says Raina

Citing the 2019 edition a “very big World Cup” for the 37-year-old Dhoni, Raina also felt that the current squad is the best that India has sent to win the trophy and given the intent is positive, it would not be too difficult a mission.

India though had a disappointing warm-up game against New Zealand on Saturday as they lost by 6 wickets after a batting debacle. India play their remaining warm-up tie with Bangladesh on Tuesday before launching the World Cup campaign against South Africa on June 5.