17 June,2020 09:57 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Virat Kohli (L) and India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni arrive for a training session at Old Trafford Cricket Stadium in Manchester on June 15, 2019, ahead of their 2019 World Cup match against Pakistan. Pic/ AFP
Gautam Gambhir and Irfan Pathan have been instrumental players in the Indian cricket team in the 2000s. Gambhir and Irfan Pathan were recently on a talk show with both discussing MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli and who would be better batting at number 3 position.
Speaking exclusively on Star Sports Cricket Connected, former India opener Gautam Gambhir & Irfan Pathan took their pick, when asked who would they choose between Virat & MS Dhoni, to chase down a target:
Gautam Gambhir: It's very difficult to compare both of them because one bats at No. 3, one bats at No. 6 or 7.
Question: If MS Dhoni continued to bat higher up the order, then what?
Gambhir's response: Probably world cricket has missed one thing and that is MS didn't bat at No. 3. Had MS not captained India and batted at No. 3, probably world cricket would have seen a completely different player, probably he could have got many more runs, he would have broken many more records. He would have been the most exciting cricketer in the world, had he not captained India and had he batted at No. 3.
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Irfan Pathan adds: But MS had all the chance to bat at No. 3, he didn't. Look, I really believe that if you compare Virat and Mahendra Singh Dhoni batting at No. 3, I still feel Virat has a better technique. There's nothing that I am taking away from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, obviously he has been an absolute legend of the game. Everyone has their own opinion. I will still take Virat any day.
Gautam Gambhir replies: Probably I would have taken MS Dhoni. MS Dhoni batting at No. 3 on flat wickets, with the quality of bowling attack now in world cricket. Look at Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, West Indies, in the current situation, with the kind of quality in international cricket there is, MS Dhoni would have probably broken most of the records.
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