The Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 between defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Capitals (DC) at Visakhapatnam on Friday is being billed as a clash between the two best finishers in the country – master MS Dhoni and apprentice Rishabh Pant.
While it’s easy to for the fans to compare the two and take a favourite, but for cricketers, it’s not wise to choose one. And young Prithvi Shaw, Pant's teammate, has made a perfectly sensible, diplomatic statement as not to offend either of the two.
The build-up to the knock-out match has been heavily dominated by talks of Dhoni vs Pant, and what the future holds for the two wicketkeepers. The discourse often borders around who's the better of the two. Dhoni, 37, is sure at the fag end of an unrivaled career, while 21-year-old Pant is already hailed as a future star, and already shown his brilliance with both the bat and gloves.
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After Pant helped DC beat SunRisers Hyderabad with a 21-ball 49 in the Eliminator, Shaw said that Pant is "the best finisher... among all the young players."
"I have always said that he (Pant) is the best finisher I have seen among all the young players. He just opened the game (on Wednesday)," said Prithvi Shaw.
"He is such a good player that he can turn the game around any time. If you need 50-60, he can turn it around," the 19-year-old left-handed opener added.
Talking about the comparison, both Dhoni and Pant have scored over 400 runs. Dhoni has hit a six every 13 balls as against Pant's one every 11 balls. In two other key aspects of batting, Pant has beaten his 'master' when it comes to strike rate but Dhoni's average of 135 is far superior to the youngster's 37.
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It will be in an interesting match-up between the master and apprentice in one of the biggest games of the season.
