Published 16:26 IST, June 11th 2020
Rahul Dravid reveals unique quality of MS Dhoni that make his finishing skills unmatchable
Rahul Dravid, who first started giving the role of a finisher to MS Dhoni, shed some light on his decision and also heaped praise on the wicketkeeper-batsman.
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Former Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni is arguably one of the best finishers the sport has ever seen. MS Dhoni has batted lower down the order for the majority of his career. His numbers while coming to bat in at No. 5 and 6 are staggering. When it comes to chasing totals in limited-overs formats, MS Dhoni is successful more often than not. Dhoni has scored 2,876 runs at an average of 102.71 in successful run chases.. However, many might not give enough credit to Rahul Dravid, who first started giving the role of a finisher to the 38-year-old.
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Rahul Dravid opens up on a skill MS Dhoni has that he never had
MS Dhoni had an explosive start to his career as he scored a brilliant 148 against Pakistan in an ODI batting at no.3. The CSK captain then went on score another stunning hundred at that position a few months later when he scored 183 against Sri Lanka. Despite playing such sensational knocks at top of the order, MS Dhoni was shifted to the lower-middle order and was given the job of a dedicated finisher. Now, years later, Rahul Dravid has shed some light on his decision and has also heaped praise on the wicketkeeper-batsman.
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While speaking to Sanjay Manjrekar during a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo, Rahul Dravid threw some light upon the success of MS Dhoni in the latter stages of many matches. Rahul Dravid said he gets a strong impression that the result of the match doesn’t even matter to Dhoni. Rahul Dravid added that when one watches MS Dhoni play during the backend of a match when he was at his best, one always felt like that he is doing something really important to him but on the contrary, perhaps the pressure of achieving the result did not perturb him.
Rahul Dravid said that such a level of equanimity is something an individual must have as part of their inherent nature or they need to train themselves to achieve it. Rahul Dravid added that it is a skill that he personally never had himself because the consequences of any decision as India's captain, mattered to him a lot. Rahul Dravid further said that it would be interesting to ask MS Dhoni about it, should he be willing to throw light upon this at the end of his career.
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The 2011 World Cup-winning skipper has been on a sabbatical from the game ever since Team India's heartbreaking World Cup 2019 semi-final loss at the hands of New Zealand last year. He was all set to lead the three-time winners Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2020 that was originally scheduled to get underway on March 29 but has now been suspended indefinitely due to the global pandemic.
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IMAGE COURTESY: BCCI TWITTER/PTI
16:26 IST, June 11th 2020