In Numbers: Dhoni's waning powers as a finisher!

The real problem is Dhoni's diminishing returns as a finisher, especially when India are chasing a target.
Rajneesh Gupta takes a look at Dhoni's record as a finisher.

Following his failure to finish off the match in a close finish, Mahendra Singh Dhoni came in for much criticism after India went down by 11 runs in the fourth One-Day International against the West Indies in Antigua on July 2.

Dhoni hit the slowest half-century of his career, scoring a painstaking 54 from 114 balls, hitting just one boundary, as India were bowled out for 178 after being set 190 for victory against an inexperienced West Indies bowling attack.

Dhoni's struggling innings has opened up a debate on whether India should persist with the legend -- who turns 36 on Friday -- or give Delhi's young wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant a go in the ODIs, keeping in mind the 2019 World Cup.

Interestingly, an analysis of Dhoni's batting in the last three years suggests that there does not seem to be any change at all in his batting when India bat first.

Both Dhoni's average and strike rate have only got better since 2014 as is clear from the following table:

Dhoni in One-Day Internationals (Batting first):

The real problem is Dhoni's diminishing returns as a finisher, especially when India are chasing a target.

There seems to be a distinct change in Dhoni's batting in a run chase since 2014.

His average has gone down by 14 points and strike rate by more than 4 points in this period.

Dhoni in One-Day Internationals (Batting second):

Also, the percentage of dot balls has increased, while the number of runs in singles, twos and threes have decreased a bit.

Most importantly, the runs in boundaries has gone down considerably as compared to the earlier period before 2013.

The following table gives a comparison of Dhoni's ODI career till 2013 and thereafter when batting in a run chase.

A comparison of Dhoni's ODI career (batting second):