3rd ODI: Another milestone beckons India captain MS Dhoni

Mohali, Oct 22: India's limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is set to achieve another major milestone in One Day Internationals tomorrow (October 23) against New Zealand.

3rd ODI preview; Unfair to blame Dhoni for defeat

As India and New Zealand face off at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Sunday in the 3rd ODI of the 5-match series, Dhoni needs 22 more runs to complete 9,000 runs in the format.

The 35-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman, who has so far featured in 280 ODIs, has accumulated 8,978 runs with 9 hundreds and 60 half centuries.

Dhoni, who made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in Chittagong on December 23, 2004, had a forgettable start to his career. He was run out for a duck after facing just 1 ball.

After scores of 0, 12, 7 not out and 3 in his first four ODI innings, Dhoni announced his arrival on the international stage with a brilliant 148 against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam.

Since then, Dhoni, as batsman, wicketkeeper and skipper, has achieved a lot of success. He is one of the best finishers in the limited overs format.

When he crosses the 9,000-run mark in 50-over internationals, he will join an elite company of Indian batsmen. He will only be the 5th to the milestone after Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Azharuddin.

Overall in international cricket, Dhoni will become the 17th batsman in history to cross the 9,000-run mark in ODIs.

Dhoni scored 4,876 runs in 90 Tests (6 centuries, 33 fifties) before retiring from the longer version in 2014.

In his illustrious career, Dhoni, in 2013, became the only captain in history to have won all three ICC trophies ( in 2007, in 2011 and in 2013).

Indian batsmen with most ODI runs (Top 5, as on October 22, 2016)

1. Sachin Tendulkar - 18,426 runs (463 matches)

2. Sourav Ganguly - 11,363 (311)

3. Rahul Dravid - 10,889 (344)

4. Mohammad Azharuddin - 9,378 (334)

5. MS Dhoni - 8,978 (280)

OneIndia News