Veteran India batsman Suresh Raina feels that MS Dhoni still leads the Indian side despite him stepping down from the post as captain two years ago.
Dhoni still remains the brains behind the Indian team, something even skipper Virat Kohli has acknowledged. “On paper he’s not the captain. On the ground, he’s still the captain for Virat I think,” Raina was quoted as saying by PTI. “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, however, said this would be a big World Cup for Kohli. He said: “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.”
Hardik Pandya the key
The 32-year-old 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 to express himself. If he can take his IPL confidence to the World Cup, he will be our game-changer.
“I think he will be the most important player for India in this World Cup. I won’t be surprised if he gets the man of the tournament, should we make the last-four,” Raina, who played 226 ODIs for India, said.
“We just need to be careful against the left-arm fast bowlers. If you see last few years, we are losing a lot of wickets to the left arm pacers. Be it Mohammed Amir or Wahab Riaz of Pakistan, Boult, Mitchell (Starc) – all have done well against India,” he said, recalling Riaz’s five-for in the 2011 World Cup semi-final.
This World Cup will see on their toes from the start with 10 teams playing against each other in the round-robin league. “India will make it to the semi-final no matter what. We have nine matches in the league. There is a lot of time to think about the combinations. It’s very important to start well. Then no one can stop us.
“When everyone is tagging you as favourites, you need to express yourself. Take this pressure into confidence,” said Raina.
“This World Cup we have to watch out for the weather. All the Indian venues are known for overcast conditions. If it’s overcast then we can bring in an extra seamer. But if it’s flat and sunny, then we have to bring in Kuldeep [Yadav].”
Raina suggested that the left-arm wrist-spinner should play alongside Ravindra Jadeja with a three-pronged pace attack.
“I want Kuldeep and Jadeja to play together with three quality fast bowlers and then Hardik making it six quality bowling options.”
Middle order looks shaky
Yadav was dropped by Kolkata Knight Riders during the IPL after nine games. He never made a comeback post that. “KKR were not able to utlise his ability well. He had one bad game and then they dropped him. It won’t stop him from doing well in the World Cup. He’s a very matured cricketer. He is a hungry bowler. He shows his character with Chahal as well. Virat has to give them confidence.
“Kuldeep has that match-winning ability. We have a lot of match-winning players. It’s a worry for India who to play,” he said.
Raina admitted that India’s middle-order looks a bit shaky. “The top order needs to get good starts as the first 10-15 overs will be very important. It’s a balanced side but middle order looks a bit shaky. A lot of responsibility will be on Shikhar (Dhawan), Rohit (Sharma) and Virat (Kohli) and if they get going, then we can do really well.”
When asked if Dhoni has slowed down in recent years, the southpaw said he can bat at number 4 or 5 depending on the situation. “I don’t think so. He batted really well in the IPL. He looks pretty solid, calm and decisive when it comes to scoring a lot of runs. If MS gets a lot of time then he can really pace his innings. But I think the top-four has to bat really sensibly in English conditions.”
