In a surprise move, Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped down as limited overs captain of the Indian cricket team, thereby drawing curtains to his glorious leadership career.
The Ranchi lad, who has led India to the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup, 2011 50-over World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy, has certainly etched his name among the greats of Indian cricket.
Dhoni has taken India to many memorable victories with the bat and has pulled off some superb stumpings behind the stumps during his career.
The Quint takes a look at seven interesting records held by MS Dhoni in international cricket.
1. Most Centuries While Batting at Number 7 in ODIs
MS Dhoni has scored nine centuries in his ODI career from 278 matches. He has scored two centuries while batting at number seven in ODIs, which is the most by any batsman in ODIs while batting at number seven.
He has scored one ODI hundred for India while batting at number seven against Pakistan in Chennai in 2012 while the other century he scored for Asia XI against Africa XI in 2007 also in Chennai.
Overall, there are 12 batsmen who have scored at least a century while batting at number seven in ODIs for their respective countries.
2. Most Sixes in International Cricket as Captain
MS Dhoni has captained India in 324 international matches till date and scored 10,964 runs. He has hit 204 sixes in international cricket as captain of the Indian team, the most by any captain in international cricket. Ricky Ponting is in the second place with 171 sixes from 324 matches as a captain of Australia/ICC World XI.
3. Most Stumpings in International Cricket
MS Dhoni is not known only in the world for his out of the box thinking captaincy but also for his quickness behind the stumps as a wicket-keeper. MS Dhoni has claimed 148 stumpings in 439 international matches, the most by any wicket-keeper in international cricket till date. There are only three wicket-keepers in history of international cricket who have more than 100 stumpings to their name.
4. Highest Score by a Wicket-Keeper Batsman in an ODI Innings
MS Dhoni scored 183* against Sri Lanka while batting at number three as a wicket-keeper on 31 October 2005 in Jaipur. The Ranchi created the record of the most runs scored by a wicket-keeper batsman in an ODI innings. He had hit 15 fours and 10 sixes in the match and took India to victory.
5. Most Runs Scored Without Scoring a Fifty in T20Is
MS Dhoni has scored 1069 runs in T20Is as captain of India in 70 matches, the most by any captain in T20I history. He has a highest score of 48* which means he hasn’t scored a fifty in T20Is yet and therefore he has scored the most runs in T20Is without scoring a fifty.
The next batsman in the list is Gary Wilson of Ireland who has scored 673 runs from 46 T20I matches for Ireland without scoring a fifty.
6. Most T20I Matches Won as Captain
MS Dhoni has captained India in 70 T20I matches and out of which India have won 41 matches. The wicket-keeper batsman has won the most number of matches as captain in T20Is.
The next captain in the list is West Indies’ Darren Sammy who has won 27 T20I matches as captain.
7. Most Times Bowled in International Cricket While Playing as a Wicket-Keeper
MS Dhoni has bowled a spell in nine international matches while playing as a wicket-keeper. Captain cool has bowled the most number of spells in international cricket while playing as a wicket-keeper.
MS Dhoni has bowled 132 balls in international cricket from 439 matches and taken only one wicket. There are six wicket-keepers in the history of international cricket other than MS Dhoni who have bowled more than once in their careers while playing as a wicket-keeper.
(This story has been republished in the wake of MS Dhoni stepping down as India’s ODI and T20I captain. This story was originally published on 7 July 2016, on his birthday.)
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