#ThankYouMahi: Unique records held by MS Dhoni in international cricket
India's greatest ever white-ball captain MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on August 15. After spending fifteen glorious years in the international arena, the 39-year-old finally hung up his boots. Over the years, Dhoni carved out a unique space and went on to script a number of distinctive records. Let us take a look at the same.
Most runs batting at number six or below
In a long-standing career, Dhoni is a proud owner of over 17,000 international runs. He played most of his ODI innings batting in the lower middle-order. A year after playing his last game, Dhoni still remains the only cricketer to touch the 10,000-run mark batting at number six or below across formats. He leads the tally with 10,628 runs, followed by Mark Boucher (9,365).
Dhoni's records in successful run-chases (ODIs)
Dhoni's meticulous calculations have helped India chase some substantial totals in ODI cricket. He is the only cricketer with an average over 100 in successful run-chases in the format (102.71). In those matches, Dhoni has remained unbeaten a record 47 times, 17 more than the next-best Virat Kohli (30). Overall, he owns 2,876 ODI runs in successful run-chases for India.
Finishing off in style!
Dhoni successfully earned a reputation of an audacious finisher. Notably, he has completed successful run-chases by hitting a six on 20 different occasions across formats (ODIs- 9, IPL- 5, T20Is- 3, Champions League T20- 2, Test cricket- 1).
Highest individual score by an Indian wicket-keeper (Test cricket)
Dhoni is mostly known for his contribution with the bat in white-ball cricket. However, he also excelled in the whites during his prime. Interestingly, he still owns the record of smashing the highest individual score (224) by an Indian wicket-keeper in Tests. He reached the landmark in the 2013 Chennai Test against Australia. Overall, this is the third-highest individual Test score by a wicket-keeper.
ICC ODI Team of the Year
Dhoni has been a part of the ICC ODI Team of the Year a record eight times, the most by a player (from 2008 to 2014 and once in 2006). Notably, he was named ICC ODI Player of the year in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
A look at Dhoni's captaincy record
Amid all the blistering finishes as a batsman, Dhoni's captaincy record shines forth. He is the only captain to have clinched all three ICC Trophies (World T20, WC and Champions Trophy). Dhoni is world's most successful T20I skipper and the greatest Indian captain in ODIs, having won 41 and 110 matches respectively. Overall, he has most number of international caps as a captain (332).
His wicket-keeping records in international cricket
Dhoni's tally of records looks incomplete without mentioning his attributes with the wicket-keeping gloves. He has 829 dismissals to his name, third-highest by a wicket-keeper and highest among Indians in international cricket. Furthermore, he has affected the highest number of stumpings across formats (195). He also holds the record of producing the fastest ever stumping in an international fixture (0.08 seconds).
A run-out that marked the end of Dhoni's international journey
In 2004, a long-haired Ranchi boy had his international debut marred with an untimely run-out. However, the obnoxious failure couldn't stop him from becoming a household name as his career progressed. Life came full circle for him when in 2019 yet another painful run-out marked the end of his journey. Within those two run-outs, Dhoni achieved everything the nation could have asked for.
