India star MS Dhoni had a night to forget in Vizag during the first T20I against Australia. The former India captain had come to the crease when India were reeling at 80 for 3. The situation demanded a cautious approach and Dhoni did exactly that. However, with wickets falling on regular intervals, he never really managed to break the shackles. The former India skipper faced 37 deliveries and ended up with just 29 runs.
Dhoni managed to hit just one boundary in his innings which is the most number of balls faced by an Indian in a T20I innings for hitting one or fewer boundaries. The previous highest was 35 balls by Ravindra Jadeja during the 2009 WT20 game against England. Jadeja hit only one four during his 35-ball stay for 25 runs.
The opportunist were quick to take a shot at him despite Dhoni’s recent displays in Australia where the veteran had scored three consecutive fifties to help India win a historic series. Well, it took Dhoni just one more outing to prove his critics wrong. He once again came to the crease at a precarious time with India reeling at 74 for 3. But unlike the last game, the 37-year old hit the ground running and played a stroke-filled 40-run knock. He smashed three fours and as many sixes during his 23-ball stay.
And with his latest knock, Dhoni added yet another feather to his already illustrious cap. Dhoni has now become the first Indian to hit 350 or more sixes in international cricket. Dhoni has hit 345 sixes for India while the remaining seven came for Asia Xi.
Here is the list showing most sixes for India in international cricket:
Player | Mat | Inns | Runs | 4s | 6s |
RG Sharma | 322 | 328 | 11724 | 1039 | 349 |
MS Dhoni | 523 | 512 | 16734 | 1441 | 345 |
SR Tendulkar | 664 | 782 | 34357 | 4076+ | 264 |
Yuvraj Singh | 399 | 388 | 11686 | 1233 | 249 |
SC Ganguly | 421 | 485 | 18433 | 2004 | 246 |
V Sehwag | 363 | 431 | 16892 | 2354 | 237 |
V Kohli | 366 | 407 | 19409 | 1938 | 187 |
SK Raina | 322 | 291 | 7988 | 721 | 182 |
N Kapil Dev | 356 | 382 | 9031 | 878+ | 128+ |
S Dhawan | 207 | 229 | 8803 | 1102 | 118 |
Dhoni’s effort, meanwhile, went in vain as Australia chased down 191 to beat India by seven wickets and win the series 2-0.