Rishabh Pant has more natural talent than MS Dhoni: Ashish Nehra

Former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra believes that Rishabh Pant at 22 years of age has more natural talent than former India skipper MS Dhoni had at 23. Rishabh Pant has been constantly criticized for his poor shot selection and inconsistency in India colours.

Rishabh Pant also seems to have lost his place in the ODI side to KL Rahul after the latter dished out some consistent performances both with the bat and behind the stumps.

But Ashish Nehra believes that if Rishabh Pant fulfills his potential, he can become an even better player than what MS Dhoni has been for India. But he also feels that for that to happen, Pant has to put in the hard yards that Dhoni did throughout his career.

"If you ask me, I have seen Rishabh Pant at Sonnet since he was 14-year-old chubby kid, trust me Pant at 22 has more natural talent than what Dhoni had as a 23-year-old in 2004, when he first played for India. But whether can Pant can be as strong-willed as Dhoni will tell you if he can replicate that success," Ashish Nehra wrote for PTI.

MS Dhoni was one of the best man-managers the game has ever seen: Ashish Nehra

MS Dhoni announced his retirement on Saturday, bringing an end to one of the most illustrious careers the game has ever seen. Dhoni is the only Indian captain to have won all the three ICC white-ball tournaments. He also lead the Indian Test team which consisted of many senior players to the summit of the ICC Test rankings.

Ashish Nehra dismissed the rumours of Dhoni not treating senior players respectfully. Nehra, who played under Dhoni's leadership for a considerable amount of time, revealed that Dhoni treated senior players with a lot of respect and had a great ability to read their minds. That is why Nehra called MS Dhoni as one of the best man-managers the game had ever seen.

"He (MS Dhoni) had utmost respect for all senior players, gave them their space and I can vouch that he handled the transition phase pretty well because of his mind-reading abilities. He gave respect and hence got respect," Ashish Nehra wrote.

"It never happened that he didn’t give a clear picture to a player about what’s on his mind. He was a good reader of other people’s mind and that’s what made him one of the best man-managers the game has ever seen," Ashish Nehra added.

Although Dhoni has retired from international cricket, he would still be leading the Chennai Super Kings in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League.