Why 2018 has been MS Dhoni’s worst year ever in ODIs - Numbers reveal

MS Dhoni did not find a place in the squads for the upcoming T20I series against West Indies and Australia.

MS Dhoni has been at the centre of a lot of discussion in the last couple of days with the Indian cricket team selections opting to rest the veteran wicket-keeper for the upcoming T20I series against West Indies and Australia.

India's Mahendra Singh Dhoni, right, listens to bowling coach Bharat Arun during a practice session.(AP)

While Dhoni is widely regarded as arguably the best wicket-keeper batsman to play for India ever, his form in 2018 has been abysmal to say the least. With 252 runs from 18 matches, MS Dhoni is averaging 25.20 in 2018 in ODIs – his worst year in terms of batting average. It is the only the second time when his average has come below 40.00, other one was 2016.

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As a result, it comes as no surprise that Dhoni has not scored a single half century till now and he has the worst strike rate among wicket-keepers in international cricket for 2018. His West Indies -counterpart - Shai Hope - is the other one with strike rate under 70.

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Dhoni, who is well known for his aggressive batting, has also struggled to score runs at a fast pace this year. In the 12 innings he has played in 2018, the former Indian skipper has scored runs with a strike rate of 68.10 – worst in his career. It is quite a shocking statistic for Dhoni considering the fact that his strike rate has never come below 78.00 in his ODI career.

When it comes to boundaries, he has taken 19.47 balls to hit a boundary this year – his worst balls/boundary rate in the career and he has scored just two sixes in 2018 in ODIs – lowest in his career.

The ongoing series against West Indies has been quite disappointing for Dhoni till now with scores of 20 and 7 in the last two matches. During the third encounter in Pune, he impressed everyone with a brilliant catch to dismiss opener Chandrapaul Hemraj but it is his woes with the bat that will be a major concern for the veteran.