Table of Contents
In a recent YouTube podcast, Afghanistan National Cricket Team legend Rashid Khan picked the best finishers among MS Dhoni, Heinrich Klaasen, Hardik Pandya, and Shivam Dube.
Khan's YouTube appearance came shortly after Afghanistan's latest T20I series against India in Delhi. India whitewashed Afghanistan, winning all three matches. Throughout his long, illustrious career, Rashid Khan has so far played some of the best talents across the world.
Rashid Khan picks MS Dhoni as the best finisher
Because of the Indian Premier League (IPL), he got more number of opportunities to showcase his spin bowling skills against the top-tier batters. Former Team India player Aakash Chopra asked the former Afghanistan captain to pick the best finisher among those four players.
Khan has played against all of the mentioned names in IPL, so he is well aware of the strengths of Dhoni, Klaasen, Pandya, and Dube. While in the cards the contest looked very tight, Rashid Khan took very little time to declare the winner, and it was the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) icon, MS Dhoni.
The legendary Afghan spinner believed that there are no better finishers than Dhoni, who could come and smash the bowlers for boundaries at the tail end of an innings. Utilising his raw strength, Dhoni even used to big out the yorkers and the full-length deliveries from the fast bowlers into the stands.
Rashid Khan explains the raw power of MS Dhoni
During this prime, maintaining a cool head and raw power, the keeper-batter took Team India and the Chennai Super Kings to the finish line on multiple occasions.
"I will give it to MS Dhoni. You need someone who can hit the yorker and low full toss very well, and I do not see anyone better than him. He is someone who can hit those low full tosses easily for sixes. I will not even think about it," Rashid Khan responded to Aakash Chopra in the podcast.
There is no doubt that till date MS Dhoni, the World Cup-winning former India captain, is considered one of the best finishers the game has ever produced. In 278 IPL games, he has scored 5439 runs at an average of 38.30 and a strike rate of 137.45, with 24 half-centuries.
Rashi Khan vs MS Dhoni IPL stats
However, Dhoni's batting stats against the Afghanistan spin wizard are not so impressive. In the Indian Premier League, there were very few occasions when the right-hander batter sent Rashid Khan to the boundary ropes.
In eight meetings, the veteran has scored just 41 runs from 42 balls at a strike rate of 97.61. The batter, who is known for his pure batting prowess, has so far been able to smash only three fours and two sixes against Rashid Khan and has been dismissed once.
On the other side, the Afghan spinner has captured 179 wickets from 153 matches at an average of 23.92 and an economy rate of 7.27. Dhoni is well over 40, but still keeps himself active as a cricketer in the Indian franchise league.
