Nobody Comes Anywhere Close To MS Dhoni, The Finisher: Rajasthan Royals' Riyan Parag

Rajasthan Royals' Riyan Parag believes Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has mastered the role of a finisher, and nobody comes anywhere close to the former India captain. The 21-year-old from Guwahati, who will be playing his fifth IPL this year, added that while he is happy donning the role of a finisher, if given a choice, he would like to bat at No. 4 in the tournament.

"If they (Royals) were to ask me where I want to bat, I would say No. 4. But, then, like always, I am open to bat wherever the team needs me and wherever they think I fit the best. It is a team game; whichever way the combinations match up, I am happy to contribute," Parag told PTI.

"I have been doing the finishing role for the last three years now. There is just one name that comes to my mind which I also have said before, MS Dhoni. I do not think anyone else has mastered that art. Going into that role, I always look up to him, how he finishes games or how he takes the game deep," Parag added.

Parag is confident of a strong show in the IPL on the back of a successful domestic season for Assam, having had a largely unfulfilled stint in the T20 competition in the last four editions.

He had just one half-century in the IPL last season and scored 183 runs in 17 games at an average of 16.64.

Parag, a member of the U-19 World Cup-winning squad in 2018, was a prolific scorer in the in 2022-23 Vijay Hazare Trophy, scoring the fifth-highest number of runs -- 552 at an average of 69 in in nine games with three centuries and a half-ton.

In the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, the right-hander scored 253 runs at a strike rate of 165.35 with two fifties.

"I had a very good domestic season and, in the buildup for the IPL, we have had a few camps in