Former India captain MS Dhoni missed out on the top spot in the list of the top five powerful batters in cricket, according to a recent ranking by left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh. The 27-year-old was asked to rank five players: Chris Gayle, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Andrew Symonds, and Matthew Hayden.
Arshdeep placed his former Punjab Kings (PBKS) teammate Gayle at the top, stating that he doesn’t think anyone can hit the ball as cleanly or as far as the southpaw.
“Chris Gayle is at the very top when it comes to power. I played with him for two or three years, and I don’t think anyone can hit the ball as cleanly and as far as he does. I’ve seen him do it many times. In the nets, he usually takes it a bit easy and mainly focuses on middling the ball. You wouldn’t realize that the same batter goes into a match and starts hitting from the very first ball. As an opener, he first looks at the conditions and assesses everything,” Arshdeep Singh said on Krishank Atrey’s YouTube channel.
He then ranked MS Dhoni at the second spot, followed by all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, followed by Australians Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds. He explained that he couldn’t judge the Australian duo, as he never played with them.
Arshdeep Singh was asked to picture himself bowling the 20th over with MS Dhoni at the wicket and the opposition needing 15 runs to win.
The left-arm seamer joked that since Dhoni hasn't retired yet, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) analysts would take note of his plans if he disclosed them now.
“Mahi bhai hasn’t retired yet, yaar. Why are you asking me to reveal my plan? If I tell you my plan now, the CSK analyst might note it down, and they’ll change their strategy. I’ve said this once or twice before as well. If Mahi is facing me, the best thing I would want to do is give him a single and bring the other batter on strike. I think that would be the best strategy because he has always dominated bowlers in the last over,” Arshdeep stated.
MS Dhoni has played 18 balls from Arshdeep Singh in the Indian Premier League but has scored 32 runs.
