The Crisis Man: 5 Typical MS Dhoni ODI Innings
MS Dhoni is the only captain to win all the three ICC tournaments as captain. He won the ICC T20 World Cup in 2007, 50 over World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013. He has been exceptional for India.
About his keeping skills, he is by far the best keeper India has seen in the last decade. Even though he is unorthodox he is effective. When we talk about his captaincy as well he is up there with some of the greats and his batting in the ODI format is phenomenal as well. He has scored thousands of runs under pressure.
Harsha Bhogle once on air said that even if MS Dhoni hadn’t kept wickets for a single ball still he would be one of India’s greatest players in the ODI format. To have an average above 50 after 300 ODIs is a remarkable achievement for a batsmen batting at No.5 and No.6 for the majority of his career.
Every time India has been in trouble, Dhoni has brought them out of trouble. Such a quality - delivering under pressure - makes a player even greater. So let’s have a look at 5 such innings where MS Dhoni has helped India to come out of a crisis.
#5 65 vs Sri Lanka, Dharmashala 2017
India was playing Sri Lanka in the series opener of the three match ODI series at Dharmashala. The pitch had a fair bit of green to it and the conditions were going to favor the bowlers.
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl. India had their worst ever powerplay as they scored only 11 runs and lost 3 wickets. India slipped further struggling at 29-7 and staring at the lowest ODI score ever. But Dhoni hung on.
With the lower order batsmen for company, Dhoni took India to a respectable total. He scored 65 runs off 87 deliveries, where no one else from India even crossed 20 and helped India reach 112. Even though India lost the match credit must go to Dhoni as he saved India of getting bundled out for the lowest ODI score ever.