When Dhoni retires, you will understand his importance: Suresh Raina
Indian cricketer Suresh Raina, who was dropped from India’s ODI squad for the Australia tour, voiced his support for captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni by saying that Dhoni’s record as captain will be difficult to break by any one else.
In an interview to Cricbuzz, Raina opened up about Dhoni, who captained him at both the International level and at Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Indian Premier League (IPL). Raina threw his weight behind Dhoni by taking a dig at the critics and saying ‘people will only realise his importance once he retires.’
“Just because he is quiet doesn't mean that people can go on saying whatever they feel like. Only once he retires, people will realise what he has achieved for the country. When a thing is present in the house, people take it for granted. Only when it goes missing do they really understand the importance of it,” Raina said.
“When the Indian team needed a good wicketkeeper-batsman, he emerged. He created a good Test team and handed it over to Virat. Now even in ODIs and Twenty20 Internationals, the day he feels like, he will quit from these formats too. At the end of the day, you need the trust and respect of your teammates. Everyone has money; everyone has
Dhoni, who guided India to the title in the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 and 2011 ODI World Cup, has been under severe criticism in the past six months after India’s poor run in the ODIs. India lost the away ODI series to Bangladesh 1-2 and the home series to South Africa 2-3 last year. However, Raina believes that Dhoni will lead India to greater heights if he gets the support from everyone, even to the title triumph in the upcoming T20 World Cup in India.
“Right now, he needs support. If he gets a bit of support, you never know. The next World Cup (World T20) is in India. He won it in 2007 and has won it in 2011 as well. He has also won the Champions Trophy in 2013. For any captain, it is difficult to break Dhoni's record,” Raina told Cricbuzz.
(Read: What “File a PIL to know about my retirement”: Dhoni – the smart media manager)
