Published 16:41 IST, December 30th 2019
MS Dhoni has this unique record against batting megastar Virat Kohli in this decade
MS Dhoni has succeeded in maintaining a unique record over batting megastar Virat Kohli on a consistent basis in this decade. Dhoni was last seen during 2019 WC
MS Dhoni was in the prime of his life when this decade had started and now he is in an uncertain stage of his career as this decade is about to end. He was last seen in action during India's heartbreaking semi-final loss in World Cup 2019. It now remains to be seen what call the veteran will be taking over his illustrious international career.
Meanwhile, Kohli, on the other hand, has only grown from strength-to-strength in this decade and has now emerged as a batting megastar. The Indian skipper is the only cricketer to clinch the top spot in batsmen's rankings across formats. However, Dhoni has managed to edge past Kohli during the most crucial moments in this decade.
MS Dhoni's excellence in ODI World Cup knockouts
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has performed well in crunch situations i.e. during the 50-overs World Cup knockout matches consistently compared to Virat Kohli. In fact, Kohli's predecessor has managed to score three half-centuries in all the editions of the World Cup held in this decade.
Dhoni had scored an unbeaten 91 in the final of the 2011 edition at the Wankhede Stadium which he went on to finish in style. Mahi then registered scores of 65 and 50 in 2015 and 2019 respectively in India's semi-final losses against Australia and New Zealand.
Virat Kohli is yet to score a half-century in an ODI World Cup knockout match. Barring his vital 35 in the 2011 final against Sri Lanka, he has failed to reach double figures in the semi-finals where his scores in the three semi-finals were 9,1 and 1. Both Kohli and Dhoni also share a similar co-incidence when it comes to their respective dismissals as well.
Kohli has been dismissed by the left-arm seamers in all three semi-finals including Wahab Riaz (2011), Mitchell Johnson (2015) and Trent Boult (2019). Dhoni, on the other hand, was run out in the previous two editions of the quadrennial event and both were as a result of direct hits. While it was Glenn Maxwell in 2015, the honour went to Martin Guptill in 2019.
At the same time, both MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli have more runs than Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar when it comes to the World Cup final. Sachin could score only 22 runs in the two World Cup finals that he had featured in, where he scored 4 against Australia in 2003 and 18 against Sri Lanka eight years later.
Updated 16:41 IST, December 30th 2019