Besides possessing a sharp captaincy acumen, one of the many traits that became synonymous with MS Dhoni was his brutal power-hitting skills. In fact, before Dhoni the captain burst on to the scene, his power hitting was already making waves in international cricket. The knock of 183 not out against Sri Lanka, the 148 vs Pakistan at Vizag, the helicopter shot – were all part of the power Dhoni packed.
Hence, it is no surprise that Dhoni is fifth in the list of leading six-hitters in international cricket, having cleared the boundary 359 times. As Dhoni celebrates his 40th birthday on Wednesday, Cricket Australia paid a special tribute to the former India captain. On its social media, CA posted a video comprising the best sixes Dhoni has hit in Australia.
Also Read | MS Dhoni celebrates 40th birthday, best wishes pour in on Twitter
Dhoni has hit 78 sixes in Tests, 229 in ODIs and 52 in T20Is. He is India’s second highest six-hitter in ODIs behind Rohit Sharma and ahead of Sachin Tendulkar. Dhoni has always loved hitting sixes against Australia. Remember the massive six off the bowling off Clint McKay that won India a thriller in an ODI from the 2012 CB Series? Well, turns out that was one out of the 60 sixes he has hit against Australia across formats.
{{/usCountry}}Dhoni has hit 78 sixes in Tests, 229 in ODIs and 52 in T20Is. He is India’s second highest six-hitter in ODIs behind Rohit Sharma and ahead of Sachin Tendulkar. Dhoni has always loved hitting sixes against Australia. Remember the massive six off the bowling off Clint McKay that won India a thriller in an ODI from the 2012 CB Series? Well, turns out that was one out of the 60 sixes he has hit against Australia across formats.
{{/usCountry}}Also Read | R Ashwin likely to play County game for Surrey before England Tests: Report
While batting between No.5 and 7 across formats, Dhoni has hit 270 sixes for India. Also, it is important to note that Dhoni is the only middle-order batsman among the top five six-hitters in international cricket. Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Rohit Sharma and Brendon McCullum were/are all top-order batsmen.
During his knock of 183 not out against Sri Lanka, Dhoni had become the first batsman to hit 10 sixes in an ODI innings. Dhoni's tally of 78 sixes in Tests is also the third-highest by a sub-continent players after Virender Sehwag and Misbah-Ul-Haq.