Ashish Nehra names Best IPL Captains and Player who can be next MS Dhoni

Veteran Indian quick Ashish Nehra recently revealed who he thought were the two best IPL captains. In an interview with national daily The Times of India, the left-armer from Delhi spoke extensively about Indian Cricket and the Indian Premier League.

Nehra names the best IPL captains

“In the later stages of my career, I played with him at Chennai Super Kings. There have been suggestions recently that he is overly passionate when it comes to CSK. Yes, he is very passionate about CSK but that doesn’t mean he is any less passionate when playing for India. I would rather say that it’s a good thing that an IPL captain is so attached to his franchise. Dhoni and Rohit Sharma are the two best captains in IPL because they are passionate about their jobs,” Ashish Nehra told The Times of India.

“Leading an IPL team is not an easy job as it may seem to a lot of people. Unlike national teams, you get just two months to build a team and get it to perform. Captaining in T20s is tougher than Tests and ODIs. You have to remain calm and know your players really well to make decisions when the game moves so fast. Dhoni’s calm is the template and Rohit has also grown in the same manner,” he added.

“Rishabh Pant can replace Dhoni”

When asked about illustrious Indian wicketkeeper MS Dhoni’s replacement, the pacer named fellow Delhiite Rishabh Pant as the brightest prospect going forward.

“Dhoni wasn’t the best wicketkeeper around when he first came in. All those who played before him were really good. He was certainly not a Kiran More or a Nayan Mongia. So it’s not that he was miles ahead of his contemporaries as a wicketkeeper, but he made for a better package. His discipline, passion, composure and confidence made him different,” said Nehra.

Dhoni may not have been the best-looking batsman or a sound wicketkeeper but he certainly was the best wicketkeeper-batsman. He worked hard on his game, knew what work for him and grew as an impeccable wicketkeeper. I don’t see anyone coming close to the impact he has had as a wicketkeeper-batsman except for Rishabh Pant. Pant’s journey – though it is still early days – reminds me a lot of Dhoni,” he admitted.

After bidding farewell to all forms of competitive cricket in 2017, Nehra took to the commentary box for a brief while. He also did a stint at the Royal Challenger’s Bangalore as Bowling Coach from 2018 to 2019.