Not that MS Dhoni would care about it, but international cricket statistics point at him being within touching distance of two worlds records when the former India captain takes the field in his 300th ODI on Thursday.
India will eye keeping Sri Lanka on the mat in the fourth ODI of the five-match series that the visitors have already sealed 3-0, but interest in an otherwise dud and dead rubber revolves around Dhoni’s triple-century of ODI appearances and two records in the offing.
The other record in waiting will be the result of the role of a finisher he has so successfully played throughout his ODI and T20I career. In 299 ODIs, Dhoni has remained not out in 72 innings – a record he shares with South Africa’s Shaun Pollock and Sri Lanka’s Chaminda Vaas. Another unbeaten knock from India’s Iceman will make him the exclusive owner of the most-not-outs club in ODIs.
With the kind of form Dhoni has shown throughout this series, 112 runs in three games with two match-winning unbeaten knocks of 45* and 67*, one will avoid betting against him playing another such inning.
In fact, he is yet to be dismissed in the series as he was not required to bat in the first ODI that India won by nine wickets.
Dhoni’s form has also silenced his critics who have been questioning his place in the team at the age of 36. The way he guided Bhuvneshwar Kumar (53*) during his 100-run unbroken eighth-wicket partnership to win the second ODI after India were at the brink of defeat leaves little doubt that MSD has a lot left in him to serve Indian cricket, possibly until the 2019 World Cup.
