When MS Dhoni's brilliant prediction on Rohit Sharma's 264 came true

When it comes to understanding the game and using tactics against opposition teams, none comes closer to former India captain MS Dhoni. The 39-year-old’s street smartness, clever field placements, and predictions of certain players doing well never fail. Although his batting prowess waned in the latter part of the years, his knack for reading the game situation never really diminished.

Also, Dhoni always backs his players come what may to come good. Be it Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, or Rohit Sharma, Dhoni trusts the players and supports them to hilt. The former captain’s belief in players came to the fore when he promoted Sharma up the order during the ICC Champions Trophy in the year 2013. Apparently, Sharma was struggling in the middle order and was failing to convert his starts into something substantial.

But Dhoni’s belief in the right-hand batter and his trust in him to score runs up the order did wonders to the confidence of Sharma, as he turned a corner when promoted as an opener. Today, the 34-year-old is considered one of the best openers the game has seen in white-ball cricket. Add to that, the elegant-looking right-hand batter also boasts of having hit three double hundreds in the ODI format- a humungous feat, as scoring one itself is tough.

He first scored the double hundred in the series decider against Australia in Bangalore. In India’s 2013 epic ODI series win against the Men in Yellow, Sharma truly announced himself as an opener and finally translated his immense potential into the international stage.

When MS Dhoni predicted Rohit Sharma will score 250 in an ODI match

After scoring his first double hundred, it seemed that Rohit was not satisfied, as he repeated the dose in 2014 and this time the sufferers were the Sri Lankan team. The right-hand batter went one step ahead and scored 264- the highest score in the ODI format. Dhoni who generally is not active on the social media platforms predicted what the ‘Hitman’ would score. Dhoni was closely following the match and posted a tweet on Twitter and said the 34-year-old will end up getting 250 if he stays till the end.

If Rohit doesn't get out he will certainly get 250 today

— Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@msdhoni) November 13, 2014

Dhoni’s promotion of Sharma up the order was clearly one of the best examples of what constant support and backing do to a player.