Former Captain and chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar showered his praises on the heroic efforts of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and rated him as the best finisher in the history of ODI cricket. MS Dhoni guided India into a thrilling win over Sri Lanka in the tri-series final on Thursday. India had a terrible start in the tournament as they lost their first couple of matches which almost closed the doors for India in this tri-series. But it was the captain’s knock from Virat Kohli which brought India back into this series.
Vengsarkar was quoted by Times of India saying, "It was a great fight-back from the young Indian brigade after losing initial games. Dhoni has a great temperament and, by far, he's the best finisher I have ever seen. He just doesn't get flustered at any stage of the game."
In 226 ODIs, he has amassed over 7,300 runs with eight centuries and 48 half centuries, but his clear-cut ability as a great finisher is revealed by the fact that he has remained unbeaten once in every four innings. Teammate Rohit Sharma, who anchored the innings with a responsible and fighting 58 at the top of the order, put it aptly.
"Dhoni has done it over and over for us, so we were all positive in the dressing room. We've seen him doing it for many years now. This wasn't any surprise."
According to a report in Deccan Chronicle, 'Captain Cool' has played some sensational knocks, especially when it comes against Sri Lanka. He smashed his highest ODI score of 183 runs against the Lankans which was studded with 10 sixes and 15 fours and because of that India successfully chased down the target of 299 against the likes of Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan.
His one of the best knocks against Lankans came in the finals of the World Cup 2011 at the Wankhede Stadium final. His sensational innings of 91 runs was coupled along with Gautam Gambhir, who missed the ton by just three runs, won India the trophy. Dhoni stitched the partnership of 119 runs with him and later with Yuvraj Singh successfully chased the stiff target of 275 set up by Lanka with ten balls to spare.