cricket

Updated: Feb 27, 2019 08:32 IST

India were in a precarious situation in Visakhapatnam which forced MS Dhoni to drop anchor and play a rather slow innings. His innings of 29* runs in 37 balls drew a lot of polarising opinions, but on a sluggish pitch, it was an innings which took India to a competitive total.

“It (the slow strike rate) was probably fair enough. With the way the wicket was behaving, it was difficult to score for any batter, let alone a guy who is not known for his power-hitting in Chahal,” Maxwell said in Dhoni’s defence after the Vizag innings.

If we take a further look at the numbers, Dhoni has played 16 innings against Australia in which he has scored 273 runs at a strike rate of 106.64.

ALSO READ: Chinnaswamy pitch expected to be batting-friendly

This is his lowest strike rate against any team in T20Is (more than 5 innings played).

However, Bengaluru has been a happy hunting ground for the former captain. On a pitch which generally assists stroke making, Dhoni has scored 536 runs in 17 T20s which is the second most runs scored by him at a venue in his career. He scored 56 off 36 balls, which was his first 50 against England in 2017.

In all the venues he’s batted for more than 5 innings, his average of 59.55 is the 3rd best. As India look to draw level in the series, a fit and firing Dhoni in the middle order will be instrumental to their cause and his record in Bengaluru certainly paints a good picture.