Instances where MS Dhoni failed to finish off the chases

Mahendra Singh Dhoni often known for his finishing skills of late hasn’t been great at doing the same. He has remained unbeaten in successful run chases on 50 occasions across the limited overs internationals, 38 times in ODIs and 12 times in T20Is and has the distinction of scoring winning sixes on 12 occasions out of those 50. However, MS Dhoni remained unbeaten in losing chase only once in ODIs while 5 times in T20Is. Including the recent T20I against West Indies, we look at the instances where he failed to finish off the games for India in limited overs cricket where he could have done it quite easily on any other day.

One-Day Internationals:

-> vs Sri Lanka at Rajkot on February 11, 2007 (Lost by 5 runs):

Dhoni was batting on 43 off 63 balls when India needed 10 from last over. Sanath Jayasuriya bowled the final over and got Kumble on the first ball. Dhoni came to the strikers’ end but failed to score a run off the next two balls but he struck a boundary on 4th ball. He lofted it over the cover region on the penultimate ball only to find the fielder in the deep.

-> vs Australia at Nagpur on October 14, 2007 (Lost by 18 runs):

With India needing 100 from 57 balls, Dhoni put on a 72-run stand with Uthappa in just 45 balls. However, Dhoni scored 26 in 26 balls when they were needing 28 in last two overs. Uthappa got out on the first ball off the second but last over bowled by Johnson, while Dhoni got out on 4th ball of the same over after failing to score a run on the previous two deliveries. India could only add another 9 runs and lost the game by 18 runs.

-> vs Sri Lanka at Adelaide on February 14, 2012 (Tie):

Dhoni was slower during his 51 which took 65 balls when India needed 9 runs to win in the final over to be bowled by Lasith Malinga. Dhoni picked up 2 on the first ball but only 3 singles came in the next 3 balls. Vinay Kumar got run out on the penultimate ball to bring Dhoni to strikers end with 4 needed on the last ball. Dhoni struck the last one towards cover region, the longest part of the ground and ran 3 to settle down with a tie.

Also read – Stats: Jos Buttler tops ‘Fastest half-century in ODIs’ for England

-> vs South Africa at Kanpur on October 11, 2015 (Lost by 5 runs):

He was batting on 28 off 27 balls with India needing 11 runs from the final over bowled by Kagiso Rabada. Dhoni picked up two runs on the first ball and single on the 2nd one. Binny gave him back the strike for the last 3 balls with India needing 7 runs to win. Dhoni tried to slog across the line on the 4th ball but ended up top edging which was taken by Rabada easily. India could only score 1 run in the last two balls and ended up on the losing side.

Twenty20 Internationals:

-> vs England at Lord’s on June 14, 2009 (Lost by 3 runs):

The skipper walked out to bat with 69 needed from 39. Dhoni moved to 23 off 17 and scored 48 in 5 overs along with Yusuf Pathan. Sidebottom bowled the final over in which India needed 19 runs. Yusuf started off with a single while Dhoni picked up a couple and a single off the next two. Pathan struck a six on the 4th ball but could only score a single off the next. With 8 runs needed on the final ball, Dhoni could only hit it past mid-wicket region as India ended 3 runs short of the England’s total.

-> vs West Indies at Barbados on May 9, 2010 (Lost by 14 runs):

Dhoni came out to bat with India needing 89 off 44 with 5 wickets in hand. He scored a handy 29 off 18 by end of 18th over. India needed 32 runs off last two overs. He tried to pick a couple on the first ball of the over but a direct hit from Bravo ended the Indian captain’s innings. India added just 16 more runs after Dhoni’s wicket.

-> vs Australia at Sydney on February 1, 2012 (Lost by 31 runs):

Coming out to bat at 53/4 in 7.1 overs, Dhoni never took off in the 172-run chase. He struggled to score a boundary till the 16th over. At once stage, he was batting on 15 off 25 balls. However, some late striking ensured he finished off with 48 off 43 balls. India fell 32 runs short of the target.

Also read – Stats: Highest scores by a No. 11 batsman in ODI cricket

-> vs New Zealand at Chennai on September 11, 2012 (Lost by 1 run):

Coming to the crease with 48 needed off 40 balls, Dhoni managed just 17 from 21 as India needed 13 runs from the final over. Yuvraj sneaked in a leg bye on the first ball while Dhoni struck a boundary on 2nd ball. After a wide on 3rd ball from Franklin, Dhoni picked up a single. Yuvraj got cleaned up on the 4th ball and India needed 6 from the last two. New batsman Rohit Sharma picked two runs in the last two balls as India fell 2 runs short of the target.

-> vs England at Birmingham on September 7, 2014 (Lost by 3 runs):

Similar to the Chennai T20I against NZ, Dhoni took the game till the last over. India needed 17 from the last over which was set to be bowled by Chris Woakes. He hit a six on the first ball and picked up a two on the next. He refused to take a single on the third ball and exchange strike with Rayudu. He cleared the boundary for four on 4th ball and once again refused a single on the next. On the last ball, he could get only 1 run when 5 were needed.

-> vs Zimbabwe at Harare on June 18, 2016 (Lost by 2 runs):

With 8 runs needed off the last over bowled by Madziva, Dhoni picked up a single on the first ball. Axar Patel holed out on the 2nd ball while Dhoni picked up a single on the next. Rishi Dhawan’s poor attempt of going for a scoop on the next two balls produced just 2 runs including a wide. Dhoni had to score 4 runs on the last ball. A brilliant last ball ensured Dhoni could just pick up 1 run.

-> vs West Indies at Lauderhill on August 27, 2016 (Lost by 1 run):

In a high-scoring thriller, India brought down the equation to 8 from the last over. Bravo bowled an over of slower balls which had seen Dhoni edging towards the short third man on the first ball where Samuels dropped a sitter. He picked up 2 runs on the 5th ball after first 4 balls produced singles. Dhoni tried to play in the cover region gap to ensure a tie at least. However, he ended up edging it to Samuels again, who this time didn’t miss the chance.