MS Dhoni 'most powerful batsman' and 'best finisher' cricket has ever seen: Greg Chappell

Former Australian captain Greg Chappell’s tenure as the head coach of Indian cricket team may have been marred by controversies but the veteran remains highly impressed with MS Dhoni, who made his senior debut under his coaching. While disagreements with players became a common trend under Chappell, Team India went onto win 17 matches on the bounce while chasing with Dhoni playing a crucial role in the transition.

Chappell has said that the young Dhoni was the most exciting cricketer in India at that time and the ‘most powerful batsman’ he has ever seen. Chappell revealed that he was left awestruck when he saw Dhoni batting for the first time. 

"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," Chappell said during a chat session on Facebook.

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Chappell further revealed how Dhoni played a contrasting knock against Sri Lanka following his blistering 183 and how he asked the wicketkeeper-batsman to play along the ground and take Team India over the winning line.  Chappell added that Dhoni is the ‘best finisher’ the game has ever seen. 

"I remember his 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 and were in a good position and Dhoni was playing a contrasting inning to the one he had played just a couple of days before.

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"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," he said.

"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," he signed off.

Apart from becoming a chasing side in ODIs, Team India also won their maiden Test series in the West Indies after 35 years.