Nicholas Pooran blind ranks MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant and AB de Villiers among other cricket superstars

Former West Indian batter Nicholas Pooran blind ranked eight of the most accomplished past and present superstars of T20 cricket in a recent interview (via Crictracker's Instagram handle). Pooran ranked his long-time teammate, Kieron Pollard, the first name on the list, at No. 4.

Pollard is the second leading run-scorer in overall T20s with over 14,000 runs in an incredible 720 matches.

His other former West Indian teammate, Andre Russell, came in at No.5. Russell is arguably the most accomplished T20 all-rounder with almost 10,000 runs and 500 wickets in 574 outings.

Next on the list was Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya, whom Pooran ranked at sixth. Hardik recently helped India win the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the USA with a heroic bowling performance in the final.

He also boasts five IPL titles to his name, four with the Mumbai Indians (MI) and one with the Gujarat Titans (GT).

Pooran then named himself at No.3, having produced incredible T20 numbers over the past few years. The southpaw is only 48 runs short of 10,000 runs in overall T20s in 242 games.

Pooran's Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) teammate and skipper Rishabh Pant found himself eighth on the blind ranking. Pant was also part of the Indian 2024 T20 World Cup-winning squad, playing a pivotal role at No. 3.

Nicholas Pooran picks between MS Dhoni and AB de Villiers for the top spot

Nicholas Pooran's final three names to blind rank were MS Dhoni, AB de Villiers, and Jos Buttler. The former West Indian placed Buttler second to last at No.7, ahead of only Rishabh Pant.

The England wicketkeeper led the side to their second T20 World Cup title in 2022. Buttler boasts excellent overall T20 numbers with 13,507 runs, including eight centuries, in 473 matches.

Finally, Pooran had to pick between Dhoni and De Villiers for the top two spots. The former Indian captain came in at No.2, having led Team India and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to the T20 World Cup and IPL titles, respectively.

AB de Villiers finished atop Pooran's blind ranking, thanks to his sensational T20 record of over 9,000 runs at an average of 37.24 and a strike rate of 150.13 in 340 matches.

Nicholas Pooran's blind ranking

1. AB de Villiers
2. MS Dhoni
3. Nicholas Pooran
4. Kieron Pollard
5. Andre Russell
6. Hardik Pandya
7. Jos Buttler
8. Rishabh Pant