Suresh Raina hails Rohit Sharma as the next ‘MS Dhoni’ after series win over England
India beat England by five wickets in the fourth Test of the five-match Test series at JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi, and took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series. Following the series win, Indian captain Rohit Sharma has been receiving praise from experts as he managed to beat the Ben Stokes-led side after being 0-1 behind in the series.
Recently, former Indian cricketer Suresh Raina also exalted Sharma and made a massive comparison with the legendary Indian former captain MS Dhoni. Raina touted the Indian skipper as the next MS Dhoni as he’s been giving a lot of chances to youngsters and stated that he’s going in the right direction.
“He is the next MS Dhoni. He has done well. He has been giving a lot of chances to youngsters the way MS Dhoni did. I played a lot of cricket under MS Dhoni. Sourav Ganguly supported his team a lot. Then MS Dhoni came and led from the front. Rohit is going in the right direction. He is a brilliant captain,” Suresh Raina was quoted as saying by Times of India.
Additionally, Raina discussed Rohit’s handling of players, praising him for his decision to rest Bumrah to manage his workload efficiently, and for showing confidence in the young and emerging speedster Akash Deep.
“The way he is rotating the players is something I have never seen in the last couple of years. Whenever the fast bowlers came in the last couple of years, we have seen injuries. But Rohit has been managing that really well. Earlier, we used to have one fast bowler and 3-4 spinners. Now, he is bringing two fast bowlers. He brought in Siraj and Bumrah. He sent Bumrah back and managed his workload well and then handed debut to Akash Deep,” he added.
Notably, India was without star batter Virat Kohli and speedster Mohammed Shami throughout the series. To make matters worse, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja also got injured after the first Test in Hyderabad which India lost by 28 runs after being ahead by 190 runs in the first innings.