Despite batting in the lower middle order for the majority of his career, the wicketkeeper-batsman did manage to leave an indelible mark in cricketing history.
MS Dhoni (L) with Gautam Gambhir. (Photo: Dhoni: IANS, Gambhir: IANS)
Former Indian captain MS Dhoni is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers ever to have played the game. This is because despite coming in to bat in the lower middle order, the Ranchi born cricketer has scored more than 10,000 runs in ODI cricket while also managing to average over 50.
He is also remembered as one of the finest captains of the Indian cricket team as he led India to World Cup wins in T20 World Cup 2007 and ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Moreover, he was also the captain of the Indian team which won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 and the number one ranking in Test match cricket.
However, Dhoni’s former national teammate and opener Gautam Gambhir believes that Dhoni could have easily been a much more acclaimed batsman had he continued to bat at number 3. Gambhir added that had Dhoni not been given the responsibility of being the captain, he would have easily batted in the top order and broken many records.
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“Probably world cricket has missed one thing… that is MS (Dhoni) captained India and did not bat at No. 3. Had MS batted at No. 3, probably world cricket would have seen a completely different player,” Gautam Gambhir told Star Sports ‘Cricket Connected’.
“Probably he would have got many more runs, broken many records. Forget about records, they are meant to be broken. He would have been the most exciting cricketer in the world had he not captained India and had he batted at number 3.”
“MS Dhoni batting at No. 3 on flat wickets with the quality of bowling attack now in world cricket… look at Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and West Indies in the current situation, with the quality there is in international cricket, MS Dhoni would have broken most of the records.”
Despite batting in the lower middle order for the majority of his career, the wicketkeeper-batsman did manage to leave an indelible mark in cricketing history as he is known as one of the greatest finishers in limited-overs cricket.
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