Suresh Raina ranks the captaincy skills of Kohli, Dravid and Dhoni
Former India cricketer Suresh Raina has ranked MS Dhoni as the no.1 skipper among the captains he has played under. Raina put Rahul Dravid in second spot on the list and Virat Kohli at no. 3.
Raina and Dhoni were involved in numerous match-winning partnerships at their peak and made a name for themselves as finishers in the limited-overs formats.
In a YouTube interview with RJ Raunac, Raina was asked to rate Dhoni, Dravid and Kohli in terms of their captaincy skills. Unsurprisingly, he picked Dhoni over Dravid and Kohli as the best captain he played under. Raina said, explaining his rankings:
“I have played a lot with Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) the batsman, the player and the leader. Rahul (Dravid) bhai was my captain when I started out playing for India, when the core of the team was being built. So will go with Mahi bhai (1st), Rahul bhai (2nd) and Virat Kohli (3rd). I have had many good partnerships with Virat Kohli and he has created very impressive records. So yeah, that would be my order - Dhoni , Rahul and Cheeku (Virat).”
34-year-old Raina featured in 18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20Is for India from 2005 to 2018. Raina retired from international cricket on the same day as Dhoni - August 15, 2020. While the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand was Dhoni's last international match, Raina last turned out for India in an ODI against England at Leeds in July 2018.
Dhoni and Raina are preparing for IPL 2021 in the UAE
While both Dhoni and Raina have retired from international cricket, they continue to represent Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL. The players are currently in the UAE, preparing for the second half of IPL 2021.
CSK had an impressive run in the first half of IPL 2021 in India. They were second in the points table, with five wins and two losses, when the tournament was suspended due to COVID-19.
Raina scored 123 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 126.80 in the India leg of IPL 2021. His best of 54 came in a clash against Delhi Capitals (DC). Dhoni, on the other hand, managed only 37 runs in seven games at a strike rate of 123.33.
Overall, Raina has amassed 5491 runs in 200 IPL games at a strike rate of 136.89. As for Dhoni, he has 4669 runs from 211 IPL games at strike rate 136.64.