T20 World Cup 2021: "Virat will listen to him" - Sreesanth talks about MS Dhoni's role as mentor

2007 T20 World Cup winner Sreesanth feels that MS Dhoni's presence will help the Indian cricket team a lot during the 2021 edition of the mega event. Team India will start their Super 12 campaign against arch-rivals Pakistan in Dubai the day after tomorrow.

While revealing the Indian squad for the ICC T20 World Cup 2021, the BCCI announced that former Indian captain MS Dhoni will join the team as a mentor. Explaining how Dhoni's presence can help the Indian team, Sreesanth made the following comment in an exclusive chat with Sportskeeda:

"Because Dhoni bhai is here, you know I'm so confident he will hold Virat also and Virat will listen to him. You know that (regarding) sudden decisions, the best person till today I think, one is Dada Sourav Ganguly and the other is Dhoni bhai. And Dhoni bhai is there."

Sreesanth played a vital role in India's success during the 2007 T20 World Cup. The right-arm pacer scalped six wickets in six innings, with his best figures being 2/12.

I think the trump card for me is Ashwin: Sreesanth

Ravichandran Ashwin performed well in the warm-up match against Australia

Sreesanth also previewed India's T20 World Cup 2021 campaign during the same interview. According to the 2007 T20 World Cup champion, India should select their playing XI, keeping the pitch and weather conditions in mind.

"The teams should be picked, even the bowlers should be picked especially the fast bowlers should be picked according to the ground," said Sreesanth. "You should know which bowler to pick in Sharjah, UAE or even if you've got matches in Oman or whatever it depends on the wicket. Don't go with just 'Okay, he is very good' because we have such a bunch of youngsters."

Sreesanth concluded by naming his trump cards for the ICC T20 World Cup. He picked four Indian players, including off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

"I think it's going to be fun," he said. "I think the trump card for me is Ashwin; Virat, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and Ashwin."

It will be interesting to see how Virat Kohli and Co. perform in the 2021 edition of the T20 World Cup.