Greg Chappell hails MS Dhoni’s finishing skills: Former Indian coach eulogized the veteran wicket-keeper batsman’s finishing skills.
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Former India coach Greg Chappell, who was the coach when veteran India wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored a career-best 183* (145) against Sri Lanka in 2005, claims the knock to be power hitting at its “very best”.
Speaking alongside Charu Sharma and Vivek Atray during a live session on PlayWrite Foundation’s Facebook page, Chappell revealed how he asked Dhoni to play along the ground in the same series.
“I remember his [MS Dhoni] knock of 183 against Sri Lanka and how he tore them apart. It was power hitting at its very best. The next match was in Pune. I asked MS, ‘why don’t you play along the ground more instead of trying to hit every ball to the boundary’.
“We were chasing 260 odd [262] and were in a good position and Dhoni was playing a contrasting innings to the one he had played just couple of days before. We still needed 20 runs to win and Dhoni asked me, through 12th man RP Singh if he could hit sixes. I told him not until the target was in single digit. When we needed six runs to win, he finished the game with a six,” Chappell was quoted as saying.
Coming in to bat at No. 6 in the 32nd over, Dhoni had scored 45* (43) in a match-winning 80-run partnership for the seventh wicket alongside Suresh Raina (39*). Needing 16 runs in the last overs, Dhoni hit two consecutive sixes off Sri Lanka all-rounder Russell Arnold as India sealed the chase in the 46th over.
Greg Chappell hails MS Dhoni’s finishing skills
Chappell further admitted being awestruck upon watching Dhoni bat for the first time in the Indian camp. Addressing the 38-year old player as the most “powerful batsman” he has seen, Chappell talked about challenging Dhoni regarding finishing matches.
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“I vividly remember that I was left awestruck when I saw him batting for the first time. He was definitely the most exciting cricketer in India at that time. He used to hit the ball from the most unusual positions. He is the most powerful batsman I have ever seen.
“I always used to challenge him if he could finish the game. There used to be a booming smile on his face, whenever he used to score the winning runs. He is definitely the best finisher the game has ever seen,” Chappell said.
