'He has a shade of MS Dhoni...': Suresh Raina wants 31-year-old star to succeed Rohit Sharma as India's next ODI captain

There are a lot of doubts over India ODI captain Rohit Sharma's future with the team and according to multiple reports, he can soon take a call on his career. With the 38-year-old's future uncertain, it remains to be seen which player will be succeeding him as Men in Blue's skipper in one-day cricket.

While both Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer seem to be the biggest contenders to become the next ODI skipper, former India batter Suresh Raina feels that Hardik Pandya can do 'miracles' as the Men in Blue's captain for one-day cricket. Raina recently appeared in a video on Shubhankar Mishra's YouTube channel and was asked to pick the national team's next ODI captain between Gill and Iyer, but the ex-India star ended up choosing Pandya instead. He further remarked that there are some similarities between Pandya and MS Dhoni.

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“Gill any day, but I still feel in white-ball Hardik Pandya will do a lot of miracles as a captain. He should become captain again because he has experience like Kapil paaji (Kapil Dev) in batting, bowling, and fielding. He is a very, very positive guy. Whatever he has done. He is a player’s captain. I feel he has a shade of Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) in him. The way he interacts, the way he conducts energy in the ground. I like it very much," Raina stated.

Notably, Pandya is the current captain of Mumbai Indians in IPL and had previously led the Gujarat Titans in the 2022 and 2023 season. Under his leadership, the Gujarat-based franchise had even won the IPL title in their debut season. However, the 31-year-old doesn't have any experience as captain when it comes to the international circuit.

Raina's take on Rohit and Virat's future

On the other hand, Raina also shared his views on both Rohit and Virat Kohli's future with the Indian team. He remarked that both the players should stick with the team at least until the 2027 ODI World Cup as not only have they won multiple titles with the team, but are also quite experienced when it comes to major international tournaments.

“Rohit & Kohli should play the 2027 ODI World Cup because they have won the T20 WC and the Champions Trophy, both Rohit and Virat have so much experience. I feel they will be there in the 2027 World Cup; they should be there," Raina said.

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Meanwhile, both Rohit and Virat will likely be in action during India's upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia which is set to commence from October 19. This will be the duo's first international assignment since the ICC Champions Trophy final against New Zealand that was contested earlier this year in March.