The scoring rate is a glaring issue, especially in light of the trends of ODI cricket, but the graph suggests he stays longer at the crease than others. Digging into the context of his innings at number six will shed light on his low strike rates.

Let us analyse the four innings he has batted at number six when he’s come in to bat at the earliest. Against Sri Lanka at Dharamsala he put up a rearguard 65 as the team collapsed for 112 runs. The next was a masterful 67 not out, walking in at 61-4 in an eventually successful chase of 218. Against Australia in Chennai, he again consolidated a faltering innings at 64-4, leading India to a winning first innings total of 281. Then, in Kandy he led India through the tricky chase of 232, coming in the 18th over and finishing at the crease with a 45 off 68.

So, although his scoring is slow, looking deeper at just four innings gives us an insight into why exactly he goes slowly: he performs the role of the anchor and the builder as the team falters around him. Contrasting with someone with a good strike rate, we see how Miller’s record is mostly made by two sparkling tons, against Australia, coming in the 24th over, and helped by partnerships with Duminy, Pretorius and Phehlukwayo, and against Sri Lanka, walking in at 19.4, and helped by Chris Morris and Faf du Plessis. Another top striker, Ben Stokes, has come in to bat in the 35th over or later in five of his seven innings. He comes in with a platform already set.

With India’s top 3 in fiery form over the past three years, Dhoni has not needed to bat on most occasions. When he does though, he is busy playing doctor to a collapsed lineup. There lies some reason for his substandard strike rate.

His credentials as a rebuilder are now established. What about that other role he used to play to perfection, the hitter? Here too, his batting position plays a role. Let’s look at the innings when he walks in with less than 50 balls left in the innings. He has 84 runs off 54 balls (SR of 156) in the 5 innings he’s played at 4 or 5. At 6 or 7, he has played 53 balls in 6 such innings with a strike rate of 92. Hence, even in the death overs, he performs better when coming higher up, with the safety of other batsmen down the order.