"He is the next MS Dhoni" - Suresh Raina hails Rohit Sharma's captaincy and handling of young players

Former Indian batter Suresh Raina praised skipper Rohit Sharma's ability to get the best out of youngsters by providing them plenty of chances.

With several injuries to star players during the ongoing England Test series, the 36-year-old managed to still lead the side to an unassailable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five affair.

India has been without Virat Kohli throughout the series and have missed other key names like KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jaspirt Bumrah at different stages. Speaking to Times of India, Raina hailed Rohit as a captain cut from the same cloth as the legendary MS Dhoni.

"He is the next MS Dhoni. He has done well. He has been giving a lot of chances to youngsters the way MS Dhoni did. I played a lot of cricket under MS Dhoni. Sourav Ganguly supported his team a lot. Then MS Dhoni came and led from the front. Rohit is going in the right direction. He is a brilliant captain," said Raina.

Dhoni is India's most accomplished captain, with 178 wins in 332 games across formats, including three ICC titles.

Meanwhile, Rohit has himself been excellent, with 84 wins in 114 matches and an incredible win percentage of 73.68. He recently led India to the 2023 World Cup final at home and to a drawn Test series in South Africa.

"The way he is rotating the players is something I have never seen in the last couple of years" - Suresh Raina

India v England - 2nd Test Match: Day Two

Suresh Raina continued his praise for skipper Rohit Sharma by applauding his rotation of players and managing injuries.

India has had to deal with a slew of injuries and other absences like Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli, among others in the last year.

"Rohit has been amazing with his planning. He has been giving a lot of chances to the youngsters. The way he is rotating the players is something I have never seen in the last couple of years. Whenever the fast bowlers came in the last couple of years, we have seen injuries. But Rohit has been managing that really well," said Raina.

Raina also praised Rohit's ability to manage the workload of pacers by saying:

"Being a captain is not easy, especially when you are playing in India. Earlier, we used to have one fast bowler and 3-4 spinners. Now, he is bringing two fast bowlers. He brought in Siraj and Bumrah. He sent Bumrah back and managed his workload well and then handed a debut to Akash Deep. Rohit has been handling the pressure and players really well."

While Mohammed Siraj rested in the second Test to manage his workload, Bumrah missed the recent Ranchi outing for the same reason. Despite these absences, Rohit has found a way to lead India to a hat-trick of wins following the defeat in the series opener at Hyderabad.