Suresh Raina lauds decision to make MS Dhoni mentor for T20 World Cup; Rates Kohli, Dravid

India's former international cricketer Suresh Raina feels that the appointment of MS Dhoni as the mentor of India's T20 World Cup squad is a "fabulous decision" by the BCCI. After the apex cricketing body of India announced the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup in the UAE and revealed that legendary wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni will mentor the team. Meanwhile, Suresh Raina turned to social media to appreciate the BCCI's decision. Raina also lauded the inclusion of Ravichandran Ashwin in the squad and said the selected team looks "very balanced". 

In an interview with RJ Raunac, Raina also rated the captaincy skills of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rahul Dravid. Raina put Dhoni on top of his list, followed by Rahul Dravid and Virat Kohli. Raina has played under all three players during his international stint with India between 2005 and 2018. "I have played a lot with Mahi bhai, as a batsman, as a player, and as a leader too. So, I would rank Mahi bhai, then Rahul bhai, and then Virat Kohli. With Kohli, I have had a lot of partnerships and he has made many such records, so Mahi bhai, Rahul bhai, and then Cheeku (Virat)," Raina said. 

The BCCI named Virat Kohli as captain and Rohit Sharma as his deputy for the forthcoming T20 World Cup on Wednesday. There are a few unexpected inclusions and exclusions, such as Ravi Ashwin's return and Yuzvendra Chahal's departure, but the appointment of MS Dhoni topped them all, as no one expected the 2011 World Cup-winning captain's reunion with Kohli and Shastri, especially after his retirement from international cricket last year.

India's T20 World Cup squad

India's squad for T20 World Cup: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma (Vice-Captain), KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Chahar, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami.

Standby Players: Shreyas Iyer, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.

(Image: PTI/MSDhoni/RahulDravid/Facebook)