In the wake of the series loss to Bangladesh MS Dhoni has had to face unrelenting questions and criticism over his captaincy from all quarters. However, the Indian captain has received unflinching support from within his team.
The latest to come out in Dhoni’s defence was Suresh Raina, Man of the Match in India’s 77-run win in the last ODI in Mirpur. Raina said Dhoni’s achievement as Tea India’s leader cannot be discounted after one bad series and that he “can’t be shown disrespect”.
"You can't disrespect him and what he has achieved," Raina said. "He has won so many trophies for India. At the same time he's a good human being, a good honest man. One series can't make him bad. He's a good leader. Everyone loves him in the dressing room. There's still a lot of cricket left for him. So just wait for some time.
"Losing just one series doesn't make you a bad team. I think credit should be given to MS (Dhoni) with the way he led the team with the bat and then marshaled the side to this victory.”
The middle-order batsman pointed out that despite the Bangladesh series India are still the second ranked ODI team in the world and have won 14 out of 20 ODIs the played in the season.
"The team's graph is going upwards definitely. These were the last matches of the season. We don't know when we are next playing one-dayers. We have done quite well in the format and we are still No.2 in the world. It's not that you become good or bad in just one series," said Raina.
After the second ODI, Dhoni said that it was time he relinquished his role as the finisher to Raina and batted regularly at No. 4. Batting at that position in the last two ODIs, Dhoni scored 47 and 69 runs respectively. And Raina is happy to drop down the order for the team’s sake.
"The way he (Dhoni) has batted in the last two games has showed how important No. 4 is for him,” he said. “He has taken a lot of responsibility over the years and he showed it today as well. He set the tone for us today with Shikhar.
"Me and Stuey (Binny) had a good partnership after the 40th over, you can execute (big shots) later on. Look at the kind of players we have. Look at Ambati Rayudu, he batted really well with MS also. So if you have a partnership of 70-80, then you can easily accelerate later on.
"No. 6 is not an easy position, you have to accelerate. Sometimes you get runs, sometimes you don't. But still you need to be positive in your mind. I am really happy. I have worked really hard with Ravi (Shastri) and at the same time Sanjay Bangar has really helped me a lot as well.
"Like I used to bat at leg stump, but Ravi said if you stay at middle you can play your shots over cover, over mid-off, over mid-on (better).
"My mindset has improved over the years as well. I have learned how to bat with the tailenders. When you are not scoring runs up front, you need to just look to bat really well with whoever comes in." Raina added that he was happy to pitch in whichever way he could.
"No regrets moving down the order. I just want to win games for India. I can score a quick 40 or a quick 80. But still when we won the World Cup in 2011, I scored 35 not out against Australia and 37 not out against Pakistan. That's my best innings ever.
"I would love to bat up the order, but whatever the team needs me to do, I just have to take that responsibility," he said.
Dhoni has also been using Raina consistently for his off-breaks and the he has given his captain those useful miserly overs while also picking up crucial wickets. In the third ODI, after scoring 38 off 21 balls, Raina returned figures of 3 for 45 with the ball.
"I know what my role is as a bowler. Whether it is bowling two or three overs in the middle or go for a longer spell whatever the team thinks of me,” Raina said.
"We knew Shakib (Al Hasan) and Mushfiqur (Rahim) have world of experience behind them. Shakib has been playing so long in IPL so he knows how to score in situations like these. So taking those two wickets was very important,” he added.
