RP Singh recalls how MS Dhoni amazed him with his ability to read the batsmen

RP Singh played a lot under the captaincy of MS Dhoni for India.

By - 22 Aug, 2020

Former India pacer RP Singh recalled the historic match between India and Pakistan which was the final match of the T20 World Cup 2007. India won the inaugural edition of the tournament under the captaincy of ex-India captain MS Dhoni.

Singh said Dhoni has good game sense and he had already predicted the dismissal of Kamran Akmal in that match. He wanted a different field set-up for Akmal, but Dhoni convinced him to continue with the same field placement.

ALSO READ: RP Singh recalls instance when Dhoni lost cool to make sure Raina listened to his instruction

Talking about the match, RP Singh told Cricket.com how Dhoni surprised him with his ability to read the batsmen. 

"For me, it was during the T20 World Cup final in 2007 that I got the sense he is a very special kind of a player. He was not the same Dhoni I had been interacting with. If you look closely, MS didn’t have any defining batting performance in that tournament but he was always there, almost in every match.

"In the final of the T20 World Cup, MS told me in advance that Kamran Akmal would be bowled as his feet were not moving. He asked me to forget about other things and just concentrate on bowling line and length,” Singh added. “I realized that he had got a tremendous reading of batsmen because I would have bowled differently to Akmal. I had asked for a different fielding set-up. But he convinced me in a way it was easier to follow," the ex-India speedster said.

RP Singh had bagged three wickets in the crucial match at Johannesburg, as India won the match by 5 runs. 

(With Cricket.com Inputs)

By - 22 Aug, 2020

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