IPL 2021: 5 best finishers in the history of the tournament

T20 cricket is a format that gives importance to match-winning cameos as much as an innings which has been built with time and precession. For any team playing this format, it is crucial to have players in the lower order who can take an attack on the opposition towards the death overs. 

The role of a finisher is as important as someone batting in the top order and trying to get settled with the pace and bounce of the wicket. When it comes to players who can bat well in the death overs, it often comes to the ability to handle the pressure. Batting in the death overs is also difficult as the bowlers are always looking out to close the game with less expensive overs. 

But, one of the best things about the IPL has been the ability of batsmen to clear boundaries in the death overs. Finishing an innings takes a lot, considering that more often than not, most bowlers bring their A-game to the death overs. IPL has seen a few finishers who can be feared by almost every bowler and have the ability to turn the game towards their side.

Here are the 5 best finishers in the IPL:

1. MS Dhoni 

If there is one player, who can be trusted with finishing a match, it has to be MS Dhoni. The former Indian captain is arguably the best finisher we have witnessed in white-ball cricket to date. Having batted at no.5 or below for most of his career, MS Dhoni has found himself batting in the death overs in pressure situations on numerous occasions. 

However, his ability to react to situations well has helped him succeed most of the time without any fail. The former Indian skipper has been able to do the same job for his IPL franchise, Chennai Super Kings. There have been situations where the team has required a big finish for him and he has responded accordingly. 

Dhoni’s success, batting in the middle order is one of the reasons why Chennai have done so well in the cash-rich league. Apart from CSK, Dhoni also played two seasons for the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant, and for them as well, Dhoni played the same role effectively. In 204 IPL games, he has scored 4632 runs at an average of 40.99 and a strike rate of 136.75.