Dhoni in vicinity of breaking Tendulkar’s record in NZ

Dixit Bhargav | 25/01/2019
Dhoni in vicinity of breaking Tendulkar's record in NZ

Dhoni in vicinity of breaking Tendulkar’s record in NZ: The Indian wicket-keeper batsman should go past the Master Blaster in this series.

Former India captain and current wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s ‘Man of the Series’ performance in the recently concluded ODI series against Australia proved his credentials to the world yet again.

While his 14-year long career was already an evident of his abilities, a dismal 2018 had forced even the loyalest of his fans to doubt his skills with the bat in hand. Having said that, Dhoni scoring three consecutive half-centuries and winning a couple of matches for India changed everyone’s perception towards him.

With India now in New Zealand, Dhoni has a chance to surpass former Indian legendary batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag in terms of most runs by an Indian batsmen against New Zealand in New Zealand.

In the 22 matches which Tendulkar played in New Zealand, he scored 821 runs at an average of 39.09 and a strike rate of 97.39. It is worth mentioning that four of those matches had come against other nations during the early 1990s. Therefore, Tendulkar has 652 runs in 18 matches have come at an average of 38.35 and a strike rate of 98.19 against the Kiwis on their soil.

On the other hand, Sehwag played just 12 matches in New Zealand, all against the hosts. His 598 runs had come at an average of 54.36 and a strike rate of 103.10. While Tendulkar scored a lone ODI century in New Zealand, Sehwag scored three of them.

Talking of Dhoni, in 11 matches in the nation, he has scored 541 runs at an average of 90.16 and a strike rate of 96.95. Much like Tendulkar, two of Dhoni’s match had come during a multi-team event (ICC Cricket World Cup 2015).

Excluding those match, Dhoni has scored 456 runs in 11 matches at an average of 76 and a strike rate of 94.60 against the Kiwis on their home turf. As a result, Dhoni needs 143 and 197 runs to surpass Sehwag and Tendulkar respectively.

While Dhoni didn’t get to bat in the first match at Napier, he would be looking to make a significant contribution in the imminent matches less for the record and more for continuing his momentum. India will face New Zealand in the second ODI at Mount Maunganui tomorrow.

Post Edited By: Dixit Bhargav
India tour of New Zealand 2019 MS Dhoni Sachin Tendulkar

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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