Top 5 ODI finishers from India

When one-day international cricket first took flight in the 1970s, India struggled to adequately compete in the game but it changed soon enough and in 1983, the team went on to become the world champions against all odds.

Over the past decades, India have had its ups and down in the format of the game but generally they have been one of the leading sides in the new millennium.

One of the key factors in the team's success has been the presence of the finisher at the number 5 and 6 positions during this time and many of them have batted at both positions at some point or the other.

Here are 5 of the finest to have batted at those positions.

#5 Rahul Dravid

He is one of the greatest batsmen that India has ever produced and although he struggled in one-dayers in the early parts of his career, Rahul Dravid eventually became an indispensable member of the team.

He played in 344 one-dayers for India between 1996 and 2011 (effectively he had given up the game in 2007 but returned for the one-day internationals in England due to his superb show in the Test series) and he remained a top order batsman for most of his career.

However, towards the latter part of his career, Dravid moved to number 5 and became one of the best finishers in the world cricket during that time. He played in the middle-order in 95 games and was well known for providing the innings with the final flourish or guiding the team home in case of a chase.

He developed plenty of attacking strokes during that time and his superior technique meant that if India lost early wickets, then he could come straight in and stabilise the innings. In those 95 games, Dravid made 2735 runs at an excellent average of 45.58 and recorded a strike rate of 75.67.

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