MS Dhoni is the captain of all captains: Suresh Raina

Kolkata: Once a captain always a captain is what Suresh Raina feels about Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who remains a leader on the field even though not on paper. Despite quitting ODI and T20 captaincy in 2017, three years after he retired from Test cricket, Dhoni still remains the cricketing brain behind the Indian team, something even skipper Virat Kohli has acknowledged.

“On paper he’s not the captain. On the ground he’s the captain for Virat I think,” the out-of-favour India batsman said.

“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,” Raina, an integral part of the Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings in IPL, said.

Raina, however, said this would be a big World Cup for Kohli. “He is a confident player, captain and a team player. It’s a very big World Cup for him. He knows his role well. He needs to give confidence to his players. Everything looks in our favour. Intent has to be positive. This is the best team to win the World Cup,” Raina, a member of the 2011 World Cup winning team led by Dhoni, said.

He picked Hardik Pandya as the key player for India at the upcoming event. “He can field and bat well, can bowl 6-7 crucial overs. He can bat anywhere. He needs to get a lot of confidence from the management.”