“I love watching him play” - AB de Villiers settles the debate over who is the best finisher
South African batting legend AB de Villiers has settled the debate over who is the best finisher of all time. He rated Indian great MS Dhoni above him and termed him the best finisher.
There has been a constant debate over the best finisher in world cricket. De Villiers and Dhoni have been two of the top contenders in most of the discussions.
In a Q&A session on his 360 show, De Villiers was asked to pick the best finisher of all time. He joking said:
“Obviously me (laughs).” On a serious note, the former South African captain added, “No, I would say definitely MS Dhoni. I love watching him play.”
De Villiers went on to praise Dhoni for his incredible achievements on the international stage as well as in franchise cricket.
“The things he has pulled off in the past… I think of that 2011 World Cup - hitting that straight six to win the World Cup. That will be engraved in my mind forever. MS has done it so many times in all formats of the game," the South African said.
“There’s always been a big debate over who’s the best finisher - me or him? We can settle it now - I say MS is the best finisher. I am very happy to give credit where credit is due. For CSK in the T20s and IPL and for India in all formats of the game - just a fantastic person, just a fantastic man. A great role model for all cricket players around the world,” he added.
Dhoni is the only captain in world cricket to win all ICC white ball crowns. He lifted the T20 World Cup in 2007, the ODI World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013.
As a batter, he smashed 10773 runs in 350 one-dayers at an average of 50.57, with 10 hundreds and 73 fifties.
“Play more like him” - AB de Villiers advises youngsters to learn from Dhoni
While praising Dhoni, De Villiers also advised the young generation of batters to learn from the way the Indian legend batted. He pointed out how MSD did not play fancy strokes and preferred hitting the ball in the V.
“I think especially of the kids and the youngsters - play more like him because he never played all these fancy shots. Play like MS - in the V. Once you have settled that, you can move on to the fancy shots,” De Villiers concluded.
The Proteas great played 114 Tests, 228 ODIs and 78 T20Is, scoring 8765, 9577 and 1672 runs, respectively.