Suresh Raina's message to India's T20 World Cup squad, says 'do it for Virat Kohli'

Virat Kohli, the current skipper of the Indian cricket team has already announced that he will be stepping down from the captaincy after the conclusion of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, which is underway in UAE and Oman. 

Now, former Indian batter Suresh Raina said that Kohli deserves to draw the curtains on his T20 captaincy stint with the coveted trophy, adding that Kohli should get a befitting farewell from his teammates. 

In a column for ICC, Raina wrote, "For India, the message at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup is simple — do it for Virat Kohli. It will probably be his last time at this tournament as captain, so it's very important for him to make everyone believe we can do it and for us to get behind him." 

"India fans can't wait for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 to start for this reason. We have the players, we have the momentum - we just need to go out there and execute now, he added. 

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Raina weighed in on the performance of the Indian team in the tournament, as he said that the key to India's success in the tournament lies in the performance of the top three batters. 

"For me, the key to success for India's batting lies in the top three. Rohit Sharma is a gun player -- he has a brilliant record at ICC events in the past and had a great IPL. We need Rohit, KL Rahul and Virat to bat through to 15 overs and lay the platform. They can set the momentum for the India team by doing this," he said.

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Raina also mentioned the middle batting order as he said, "There are lots of electric combinations in the middle order and obviously Rishabh Pant is going to play a key role there. Hardik Pandya is also very capable as a power hitter. But if the top three are still there at that stage of the innings, there is no target that India can't chase." 

Raina is optimistic about India achieving something special in the tournament. "We have been waiting for this T20 World Cup for a long time. It has been a difficult two years but I think we're about to see something special in the UAE and Oman," he said. 

Kohli-led team India will start their T20 World Cup campaign with a heavyweight clash against Pakistan on October 24 in Dubai. The match will kick start at 7:30pm IST.