9,000 Runs and Counting: MS Dhoni’s Top Seven ODI Innings

On the occasion of MS Dhoni crossing 9,000 ODI runs, take a look at his seven best ODI innings.

If there’s one man who really wants MS Dhoni to keep playing at the top level for a few more years, it is the Indian limited-overs skipper himself.

The 35-year-old, who faced a lot of flak after the second ODI against New Zealand because of failing to get India over the line, played a remarkable innings in the third ODI.

Dhoni showed how determined he is to keep going with a classy knock of 80 runs, which helped India win the match by seven wickets.

The Ranchi lad, who has played most of his career lower down the order, reinvented himself at the number four position.

And in the process, also became the fifth Indian to surpass 9,000 ODI runs, joining Sachin Tendulkar (18,426), Sourav Ganguly (11,363), Rahul Dravid (10889) and Mohammad Azharuddin (9,378).

On this momentous occasion, The Quint takes a look at MS Dhoni’s top seven ODI innings.

1. 183* vs Sri Lanka, 2005

MS Dhoni may have announced his arrival to the international scene with the 148 against Pakistan in 2005 but he became a star with the score of 183* against Sri Lanka in the same year.

Dhoni, who has always been a lower-order batsman, was sent to bat at number three, while India were chasing a high total of 298 in Jaipur.

The then 24-year-old walked in to bat in the first over itself as Sachin Tendulkar had been dismissed off the fifth ball by Chaminda Vaas.

The wicketkeeper batsman unleashed himself right from the beginning of the innings. He smashed 15 fours and 10 sixes in his innings and strung four important partnerships with Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Venugopal Rao.

Dhoni remained unbeaten and India won the match by six wickets. The Ranchi lad set the record for the highest individual score by a wicketkeeper batsman.

2. 91* vs Sri Lanka, 2011

Prior to the World Cup final in 2011, MS Dhoni had scored only 150 runs in eight matches. But in the summit clash against Sri Lanka in Mumbai, Dhoni decided to lead from the front and promoted himself above the in-form batsman Yuvraj Singh.

He walked in when India were in a precarious situation. The home team still needed 161 runs from 116 balls with seven wickets in hand. Sri Lanka had put up a competitive score of 274 runs.

The captain took some time to get his eye in. He gave most of the strike to Gautam Gambhir, who was already set. As the innings went on, Dhoni ran hard between the wickets and kept finding the occasional boundary.

Bit by bit, Dhoni and Gambhir inched India closer to the total. Finally, Gambhir got dismissed on 97 when India reached 223 runs.

Yuvraj Singh joined Dhoni and gave him the support that he needed. Dhoni started finding boundaries at a quicker pace and when the time was right, the captain finished the match with a huge six!

3. 148 vs Pakistan, 2005

After going through four rough innings in the start of his career, Dhoni proved his abilities when he came in at number three in the fifth ODI of his career.

Playing in his second ODI against arch-rivals Pakistan in Visakhapatnam, he made his intentions clear with a boundary off the very first ball of his innings.

Thereafter, Dhoni put together 96 runs with Virender Sehwag for the second wicket and 149 runs with Rahul Dravid for the fourth wicket and propelled India’s score to a mammoth total of 356/9.

The wicketkeeper batsman’s innings included 15 fours and four sixes. India won the match by 58 runs.

4. 113* vs Pakistan, 2012

India may have lost the ODI by six wickets in Chennai, but Dhoni still managed to win the player of the match award – courtesy a magnificent hundred.

The top order was mostly blown away by Junaid Khan and India were reduced to 29/5 before the 10th over. Dhoni made his way to the middle at number seven and constructed one of the best ODI innings ever.

He initially weathered the storm and with the help of Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin, slowly took India to a decent total of 227/6.

Dhoni managed to increase his strike rate as his innings progressed and remained unbeaten at 113 off 125 balls.

5. 92* vs South Africa, 2015

After losing the first ODI of the series against South Africa by just five runs, Dhoni had a lot of questions to answer. And as always, the captain answered with the bat.

Dhoni, who chose to bat first after winning the toss, made his way to the middle at 82/3. Ajinkya Rahane got dismissed for 51 runs a few overs later and thereafter the Indian batsmen started falling like a pack of cards.

The captain didn’t get deterred with the happenings at the other end and kept going.

In the final over, when India had only one wicket in hand, Dhoni played out five balls and not giving the strike to Umesh Yadav. He smashed the last ball for six and took India’s score to 247/9.

Dhoni’s 92* helped Indian win the match by 22 runs.

6. 84* vs New Zealand, 2009

The first match of any overseas tour is always the most difficult one. But MS Dhoni quickly assessed the conditions and batted brilliantly in the first ODI of the series against New Zealand at Napier.

After Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar got India off to a good start, Dhoni took over and paced his innings well.

He put together 110 runs with Suresh Raina, which helped the Indian team to post a daunting total of 273/4 in 38 overs (the overs were reduced due to rain).

India eventually won the match by 53 runs.

7. 44* vs Australia, 2012

It may seem that 44 is a small number, but it was certainly huge in the context of the match against Australia in Adelaide in 2012. While India were chasing a score of 270 runs, Dhoni walked in to bat at 178/4.

With still 92 more runs to get from 15.5 overs, Dhoni had a lot of work cut out. The captain began slowly. He kept Suresh Raina on strike most of the time, giving the left-hander freedom to play aggressively. Dhoni and Raina put on 61 runs before the left-handed batsman got out with India still needing 31 more runs from 23 balls.

Ravindra Jadeja was sent back to the hut after a couple of overs, but Dhoni kept his calm and reduced the equation to 13 runs from the last over.

Just when people started to think, if Dhoni has left it for too late, the powerful wicketkeeper batsman struck a huge six off Clint McKay’s bowling in the third ball of the final over. Dhoni eventually finished the match, with India winning it by six wickets.