MS Dhoni vs Rishabh Pant: The Sportsrush presents you the better finisher between MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant in IPL 2019
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Touted as the next big thing and the future of Indian cricket, Rishabh Pant has grown through leaps and bounds, and is well on course (if not yet) to fill in the massive shoes that MS Dhoni might hang up anytime soon. Narrowing down our vision to IPL 2019, the aforementioned wicket-keeper batsmen have been magnificent for their respective sides, especially in terms of their renowned hitting abilities in the back end of the innings.
MS Dhoni vs Rishabh Pant head to head in DC vs CSK matches
In the two league matches that both Pant and Dhoni have played against each other, it is the latter’s led CSK who have triumphed in both the occasions. In the first league match Rishabh Pant (25 off 13) couldn’t capitalize on his fiery start, which meant that the Capitals could manage only 147 runs in their allotted quota of 20 overs.
In response, MS Dhoni (32 off 35) made sure he stayed there right till the end, thereby ensuring that his team wins the match, with two balls to spare.
In the second league match at Chepauk, MS Dhoni, batting first on this occasion, stayed there right till the end and scored a quickfire 44 off 22 deliveries, plummeting Trent Boult for as many as 21 runs in the final over. CSK, with his death over flourish ended up with a decent total of 179/4.
In response, all the eyes were once again on their best batsman so far- Rishabh Pant, who again succumbed cheaply, scoring 5 off the 3 deliveries that he faced. CSK, as a result handed DC a heavy drubbing by as many as 80 runs.
Hence, head to head in this year’s IPL, MS Dhoni has come out as the better finisher than Pant, comparatively.
MS Dhoni vs Rishabh Pant overall in IPL 2019
In this year’s IPL so far, although having ended up third in the points table after the league stage, the Delhi Capitals, have faltered more than just once, and somehow snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on their pursuit to the target. And it is Rishabh Pant, who has received his fair share of criticism for going for that glory shot after having played so well for the major portion of his innings in all of these close encounters.
It all started as early as match no.14 this year, in his game against Kings X1 Punjab, where after doing all the hard work, (scoring 39 off 26) and after having played patiently so far, threw away his wicket going for that expansive heave off Mohammed Shami, thereby losing by 14 runs, in what could have been a walk in the park for him and his team.
Also Read : Prithvi Shaw declares Rishabh Pant as a better finisher
This tendency of not closing the games very often continued till match no. 58- the eliminator- where again after playing so well (49 off 21) threw away his wicket at the cusp of victory, nearly costing his team a defeat in the eliminator.
On the other hand, MS Dhoni, barring the famous match against the Royal Challengers where he scored 24 in the last over (when his team required 26), and fell short by just two runs, has managed to close in all the other matches whether batting first and second this year.
Thus, although Pant has been a vital cog in his team’s rare journey to the playoffs this year, it is the experienced MS Dhoni who steals away the title of the ‘Best Finisher, against the awe-inspiring Rishabh Pant, at least this year.
