5 batsmen with the highest percentage of 'bowled' dismissals in ODIs
Cricket is a battle between bat and ball that has come a long way since the first recognised international match in 1877 between England and Australia.
The first ever ODI was also played between the very same two teams in 1971 with 40-overs a side and each over consisting of eight deliveries. It later gave way to 60-overs a side and eventually the 50-over format with six deliveries in an over, which we have presently.
Several great batsmen like Sir Donald Bradman were destined to play just Test cricket and one can only assume how some of the legends would have fared in the ODI format. Nonetheless, the format has seen many players having a long and successful career with their international teams.
Unlike Test cricket, where the entire batting line-up is almost certain to spend time in the middle at least once during a match, in the 50-over format, chances come few and far for the lower-order batsmen and even when they do, they have very little time to adjust to the conditions and get going.
Batsmen at the top of order thus have the advantage of spending maximum time in the middle and a look at the leading run-scorers in the format proves the point. But that also means that they have more chances of being dismissed as carrying the bat through an ODI inning is quite tough.
While getting caught is the most common form of dismissal in any form of cricket, being bowled is the second-most common form of dismissal and something which gives the bowler a moral victory like no other. Played on is one thing but getting the stumps uprooted really ups the confidence of the bowlers.
So, let's have a look at the 5 top-order batsmen with an average of above 40 with the highest percentage of their dismissals as 'bowled'
#5 MS Dhoni (India) - 18.55%
The man who captained India to success in the 2007 World T20, 2011 ODI World Cup, and the 2013 Champions Trophy, MS Dhoni is one of the greatest finishers in the limited-overs format.
Most of his innings have come at the Number 6 spot for India while he has also batted higher up the order depending on the team's needs. He is just 33 runs of the 10000-run in ODI cricket and will no doubt go down in history as one of India's greatest skippers and players in the shorter versions of the game.
For someone who bats lower down the order, Dhoni has an outstanding average of above 50 in ODIs, something which is also helped by the fact that he remained unbeaten on 78 occasions out of the 272 times he has come out to bat in the 50-over format.
Out of his 194 dismissals, 36 or 18.55% of them have been 'bowled' with West Indies' Jerome Taylor dismissing him thrice in this fashion.
