Irfan Pathan, the former Indian all-rounder believes that Virat Kohli has a better technique than MS Dhoni when it comes to batting at No.3. Earlier, Gautam Gambhir another former Indian opener said that MS Dhoni would have made the No.3 position his own if he had continued to bat at that position for long.
MS Dhoni has amassed 993 runs with an outstanding average of 82.75 in 17 ODI matches, batting at No.3. In fact, his maiden ODI ton against Pakistan, that garnered him immense popularity came batting at no.3. Also, his highest score of 183 runs against Sri Lanka in 2005 in Jaipur also came at No.3.
Virat Kohli has a better technique at No.3 – Irfan Pathan
However, Pathan is still of the opinion that Kohli is better than MS Dhoni at No.3. The current India skipper has proved his prowess over a decade. He is the only batsman to average over 50 across all the formats of the game.
“But MS had all the chance to bat at No.3, he didn’t. Look, I really believe that if you compare Virat and MS Dhoni batting at NO.3, I still feel Virat has a better technique, “Pathan stated on Star Sports show Cricket Connected.
He further added “There’s nothing that I am taking away from MS Dhoni, obviously he has been an absolute legend of the game. Everyone has their opinion. I will still take Virat any day”.
Last time MS Dhoni batted at No.3 was way back in 2009 against Sri Lanka at Rajkot. From there on, he mostly batted at No.5 and 6 and proved to be one of the best finishers the game has ever seen. However, in all these years Dhoni’s game has also evolved. From being a swashbuckling hard hitter batsman, he has become more responsible, especially after becoming the captain of India.
Moreover, in these years Virat has also emerged as a batsman who has broken all the records batting at No.3 and has become the backbone of the Indian batting. At three Virat has scored 9,751 runs in 187 matches at a scintillating average of 62.90 with 36 centuries, which made Virat Kohli own the No.3 slot in the batting order.