In numbers: MS Dhoni’s journey to 9000 ODI runs

Tags: New Zealand tour of India, 2016, India Vs New Zealand 3rd ODI at Chandigarh, Oct 23, 2016, India, New Zealand, Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Published on: Oct 23, 2016

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During India’s impressive seven-wicket victory over New Zealand at Mohali on Sunday, Indian skipper MS Dhoni joined the list of batsmen with 9000 ODI runs

During India’s impressive seven-wicket victory over New Zealand at Mohali on Sunday, Indian skipper MS Dhoni joined the list of batsmen with 9000 ODI runs. Dhoni did so during the course of his 80 from 91 balls. The Indian ODI captain roared back to form, hitting 6 fours and three sixes, before being dismissed when he looked set for a hundred. Here are some interesting stats of his journey to 9000 runs.

Dhoni is now the third wicket-keeper batsman in world to have scored 9000 runs. Before him, two other world-class wicket-keeper batsmen have achieved the feat – Kumar Sangakkara and Adam Gilchrist. Sangakkara finished his career with an amazing 14234 runs from 404 matches. Gilchrist, on the other hand, ended with 9619 runs from 287 matches. Dhoni is the fastest to reach 9000 runs among wicket-keeper batsmen. While the Indian skipper has taken 244 innings to reach the landmark, Sangakkara got there in 252 innings and Gilchrist in 262.

MS Dhoni

Overall, Dhoni is the sixth fastest batsman to reach the landmark of 9000 ODI runs. Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly tops the list with 228 innings, followed by Sachin Tendulkar (235), Brian Lara (239), Ricky Ponting (242) and Jacques Kallis (also 242).

Incredibly, Dhoni is the only batsman in the history of one-day cricket to reach 9000 runs while still averaging 50. Before him, South African legend Jacques Kallis held the record for the best average while reaching 9000 runs. He was averaging 45.68 at that point.

Click here for highlights of Dhoni's 80

In terms of deliveries, Dhoni got to 9000 runs in 10109 balls. He is the third quickest on the list of batsmen who reached 9000 runs in fastest time in one-dayers. Not surprisingly, Adam Gilchrist tops the list, having got there in 9328 runs. Sanath Jayasuriya is just ahead of Dhoni. He reached 9000 runs in 10094 balls.

In another incredible stat, of his 9000 runs, 6581 runs have come as wicket-keeper batsman. No other wicket-keeper batsman in the world has such a splendid record. Sangakkara was way behind with 1654 runs as wicket-keeper and captain when he completed 9000 runs.

Among Indian ODI captains, Dhoni has got the most runs while being the leader en route to 9000 runs. As mentioned earlier, he has 6581 runs to his name as captain. Mohammad Azharuddin had over 5000 runs to his name when he reached 9000 ODI runs.

During the course of his 80 against New Zealand, Dhoni surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record for most sixes in one-day cricket by a batsman. Dhoni now has 196 sixes to his name, overtaking Tendulkar’s record of 195 sixes. Only four players have hit more sixes in international ODI cricket than Dhoni. Shahid Afridi is well above the rest with 351 sixes. He is followed by Jayasuriya (270), Chris Gayle (238) and Brendon McCullum (200).

--By A Cricket Statsman

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