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MS Dhoni’s ODI performance at every batting position

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Ms Dhoni

ODI cricket is often billed as a format in which MS Dhoni has achieved specialization. The 2011 World Cup-winning captain is known as one of the best finishers in world cricket. Nobody can forget the way he guided the Indian team to a memorable World Cup final win against Sri Lanka.

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While Dhoni has majorly played at the lower positions in the batting order, very few fans might know that he has opened the innings for the team and also batted at number eight! When MS Dhoni first became a part of the Indian team, he was first looked at as an aggressive player, who can smack the ball outside the park right from ball one.

As time passed, he started batting in the middle order and made a name for himself by playing match-winning knocks in some of the most memorable run chases for India. When he became the captain, he further demoted himself to number six and number seven. Very few players are so selfless as MS Dhoni in this matter.

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And today, in this article, we will have a look at his numbers at every batting position in ODIs.

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Opening – 98 runs

MS Dhoni has opened the innings only two times in his ODI career. He aggregated 98 runs in those two innings at a spectacular average of 49. He scored two runs in one inning and amassed 96 in the other.

One can only imagine what could have happened had MS Dhoni opened more times in his ODI career for India.

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Number 3 – 993 runs

MS Dhoni | Reuters

Number 3 was the position where MS Dhoni recorded his highest ever score in the one day internationals. Playing against Sri Lanka, Dhoni played an unbeaten knock of 183 runs to help India win the game.

He played 16 innings at number three, where he managed to score 993 runs at an average of 82.75.

Number 4 – 1358 runs

MS Dhoni was often backed by many critics to bat at number four. However, he preferred to bat low because he did not want to expose the weak lower middle order of the team. Dhoni played 30 innings in ODIs at number 4.

The right-handed batsman from Ranchi scored 1358 runs at an average of 56.58, scoring one century and 12 fifties for the country.

Number 5 – 3169 runs

Number 5 is the position where MS Dhoni came out to bat during the 2011 World Cup final match against Sri Lanka. He has played 83 innings at this position, where he has scored 3169 runs at a marvelous average of 50.30.

Dhoni’s highest score at this position is 134 and his strike rate was 86.16 when he batted at this number.

Number 6 – 4164 runs

Photo: (AP)

To score over 4,000 ODI runs at the number six position is an incredibly tough job. However, MS Dhoni managed to achieve this feat as he spent a major part of his career, batting at this position.

He earned the nickname of the ‘best finisher’ after batting well at number six. In 129 innings, Dhoni scored 4164 runs at an average of 47.32.

Number 7 – 940 runs

MS Dhoni’s jersey number is 7 and he is one of the few players who achieved the record of scoring five or more ODI fifties at this position. The Ranchi-based player even managed two ODI centuries at this number.

Dhoni entered to bat at number 7 34 times in his ODI career and scored 940 runs at an average of 44.76.

Number 8 – 51 runs

Very few Indian cricket team fans would know that MS Dhoni has even batted at number eight in his ODI career. He batted at this position only three times in his career, but achieved the highest score of 20 only.

He had an average of 17 as he scored 51 runs in three innings. His strike rate was also just 62.20 at number 8.