India’s fast bowler Arshdeep Singh has ranked top five most powerful batters in cricket. Former Indian captain MS Dhoni, who is known for his brutal hitting, missed out on the top spot. Singh was asked to rank batters like Chris Gayle, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Andrew Symonds and Matthew Hayden.

The Punjab seamer picked Chris Gayle at the top position. Gayle was known for his force and the former West Indies opener is regarded as one of the biggest hard-hitters in the game.

Singh also played with Gayle while representing Punjab Kings in the IPL.

Singh said on Krishnank Atrey’s YouTube Channel, “Chris Gayle is at the very top when it comes to power. I played with him for two or three years, and I don’t think anyone can hit the ball as cleanly and as far as he does. I’ve seen him do it many times. In the nets, he usually takes it a bit easy and mainly focuses on middling the ball. You wouldn’t realise that the same batter goes into a match and starts hitting from the very first ball. As an opener, he first looks at the conditions and assesses everything.”

The left-arm seamer picked MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh at two and three respectively. He picked Matthew Hayden and Andrew Symonds at fourth and fifth respectively but said it is hard for him to judge as he never played with and against the Australian duo.

On the other hand, Singh was asked about his strategy of bowling against MS Dhoni in the death overs. The Indian seamer said it is best to keep Dhoni at the non-striker’s end.

“Mahi bhai hasn’t retired yet, yaar. Why are you asking me to reveal my plan? If I tell you my plan now, the CSK analyst might note it down and they’ll change their strategy. I’ve said this once or twice before as well. If Mahi is facing me, the best thing I would want to do is give him a single and bring the other batter on strike. I think that would be the best strategy because he has always dominated bowlers in the last over.”

Singh recently scalped four wickets in five T20Is against England.