Raina has observed MS Dhoni's captaincy skills from close over the years.
Suresh Raina, who has spent most of his career playing under MS Dhoni, knows who can match his level of captaincy. He picked Rohit Sharma as someone who has a similar captaincy style like Dhoni.
Raina is impressed by how Rohit listens to every player in the dressing room and keeps the atmosphere positive for all. He also lauded the way Rohit gives confidence to each player so they could showcase their best game.
Rohit's Indian Premier Leauge (IPL) record shows his skills as a captain. Although he hasn't got many chances to lead the Indian cricket team with Virat Kohli being a full-time captain, the Mumbai batsman has made most of the given opportunities.
“I would say he is the next MS Dhoni for the Indian cricket team,” Raina said on The Super Over Podcast.
“I have seen him, he is calm, he likes to listen, he likes to give confidence to the players and on top of that, he likes to lead from the front. When the captain leads from the front and at the same time, he gives respect to the dressing room atmosphere, you know you have it all.
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“He thinks everyone is a captain. I have seen him, I have played under him when we won the Asia Cup in Bangladesh. I have seen him how he gives confidence to young players like Shardul [Thakur], Washington Sundar, and [Yuzvendra] Chahal of course.
“Around him, players enjoy the intensity, they enjoy his aura. I think when you enjoy the aura of a player, you like to be positive and I think that is what he is good at. He is one of the top-most, after MS Dhoni, who was brilliant. He has won more [IPL] trophies than MS, but I would say they both are very similar. Both of them, as a captain, like to listen.
“When your captain is listening, you can solve a lot of problems, you can solve the mental problems of the players. So in my book, they both are wonderful.”