Former India opener Aakash Chopra said that there hasn’t been a better finisher than MS Dhoni in the history of cricket as well. However, Dhoni amassed 10,773 runs which came at an excellent average of 50.57 and an equally impressive strike rate of 87.56 in 297 ODI innings as well. He also aggregated 1617 runs at an average of 37.60 and a strike rate of 126.13 in 85 T20I knocks as well.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said: “Whenever a book is written on cricket, the finishing chapter will be written on him, and he might write it himself because there hasn’t been a better finisher than him in the history of cricket.”
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The former India opener again added, “Around 2008, MS Dhoni started developing as a limited-overs cricketer who finished matches. He started getting compared with Michael Bevan. Michael Bevan was one of the best. Very few people have finished better than him. Michael Bevan’s specialty was singles, doubles and running. MS Dhoni ran singles and doubles, hit fours and sixes, stayed unbeaten till the end, and his game awareness was as good as Michael Bevan, if not better.”
However, MS Dhoni amassed 7,333 runs which came at an average of 48.56 in 212 ODI innings at Nos. 5 and 6. He scored 1107 runs at an average of 36.90 in 58 T20I innings in those positions. Aakash Chopra also added that MS Dhoni finished games in his distinctive style.
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“So an aura started getting created, that a game is not over until he is on the ground. He would take the game deep, play differently, and win the match. In his own very inevitable style, he started winning matches, not one but many,” Aakash Chopra concluded. “It’s not necessary that a finisher has to come at No. 5. Top-order batters like Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma also finish games but it’s slightly easier for them. It’s difficult for Nos. 4, 5 and 6 to finish games because you don’t get the time to settle.”
