The former World Cup-winning Indian skipper MS Dhoni is in a great form with the bat at the beginning of the New Year. On Friday, during the series-decider third and final ODI of the series at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), when Dhoni came to bat, the on-field spectators gave him a standing ovation.
After having a rarest full off-year in last year’s (2018) ODIs with the bat, Dhoni has returned to his lethal vintage batting form at the very beginning of the New Year (2019). While he didn’t play any 50+ knock in ODI in last year and had only 25.00 averages, Dhoni has played three half-century knocks in the first three ODIs of the New Year (2019).
Also watch: Australia Gave A Lifeline To MS Dhoni In Melbourne
At the end of the three-match ODI series in Australia that ended on Friday (18 January), Dhoni won the Player of the Series award after finishing as the second leading run-scorer in this series by scoring 193 runs with the average of 193.00.
Also read: Virat Kohli: No One More Committed To Indian Cricket Than Dhoni
The 37-year-old right-handed wicketkeeper-batsman Dhoni started the ODI series with the knock of 51 off 96 balls during the first ODI at Sydney. After then, he played two match-winning unbeaten knocks of 55* (54 balls) and 87* (114 balls) at Adelaide and Melbourne respectively.
In Melbourne ODI, the Indian skipper Virat Kohli decided to bowl first after winning the toss. With the help of the leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s record-breaking bowling figure of 6/42, India bundled out Australia for 230 runs (48.4 overs).
Also watch: MS Dhoni And Kedar Jadhav Seals The Series For India
In reply, the visiting side was struggling on 59/2 at 16.2 overs when Dhoni came to bat after getting a promotion to bat at no.4. The cricket fans have already amazed on Dhoni for his impressive recent batting form and when he came to bat at MCG, the crowds gave him a standing ovation. He didn’t disappoint the fans as he played the match-winning knock of unbeaten 87 runs off 114 balls and guided the visiting side with Kedar Jadhav (61 off 57 balls) to win their first ever bilateral ODI series in Australia.
Also read: MS Dhoni Expressed the Urge Of Batting At Any Position
What a Moment 🙏
Admist Thunderous Applause and Chants of Dhoni Dhoni , MCG Showers Love for #MSDhoni – Man Of The Series 💙
Tremendous Performance by Team India 🇮🇳👍
#AUSvIND @Swamy39 @imVkohli https://t.co/nkFOzETzsJ— Dr. Mahesh Joshi 🇮🇳 (@MaheshJoshi_MJ) January 18, 2019
