Shoaib Akhtar Identifies India Batsman Who Can Replace MS Dhoni as Finisher!

Even after 6 months of Dhoni's absence, team India is yet to identify an apt batsman for the role of the finisher. Coincidentally, owing to a concussion to Rishab Pant, KL Rahul was forced to don the gloves and come down the order to bat at number 5 in the just-concluded ODI series against Australia. Both these experiments worked brilliantly that Virat Kohli has more or less confirmed Rahul as the WC for the upcoming New Zealand tour as well.

However, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar believes that Manish Pandey can be the right choice to plug the gap left by MS Dhoni.

“Hindustan ko akhir Dhoni ka replacement mil gya,” Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.

“India has finally got Dhoni’s replacement, they have found a good fit in Manish Pandey. Shreyas Iyer too looks a complete player and these add depth to India’s batting.”

“These players have played a lot in the IPL, they know how to handle pressure, they do not care about big names and hence, end up playing important innings."

"I think it was a great series, characters were shown, players were willing to fight. Even when the innings ended, Iyer and Pandey were speaking about the batting while they were walking off the field. These players understand the game, they keep discussing the game,” Akhtar added further.