Records MS Dhoni is closing on with the ODI series against South Africa

Records MS Dhoni is closing on with the ODI series against South Africa: The India-South Africa one-day series will be keenly followed by fans and statisticians alike. The one man who will be closely followed is the Indian Skipper MS Dhoni. Having been under pressure after losing the ODI series against Bangladesh and now the T20I series against the Proteas, he will look to bounce back in style and lead his team to a series win.

Captain cool stands on the verge of many personal milestones and here as look at these:

• MS Dhoni having scored 68 fifties prior to the start of this series needs two more fifties for his 70 fifties.

• If he gets it, he would become the 17^th batsman (4^th Indian) in ODI cricket to score 70 fifties or more.

• He has scored 59 half centuries and needs one more half century for his 60 half centuries, making him the 13^th batsman (4^th Indian) in ODIs to score 60 plus half centuries.

• Two more fifties will also make him the 2nd wicket keeper batsman in ODIs to score 70 plus fifties; Kumar Sangakkara with 114 fifties currently leads this list followed by Adam Gilchrist with 69 fifties.

• As a captain he needs 5 more half-centuries to complete 50 half centuries. If he gets it he would then become the second batsman in ODIs to score 50 plus half centuries; Ricky Ponting the other captain to score 50 half-centuries or more (51).

• India having won 147 ODIs when Dhoni was keeping wickets need 3 more for 150 wins; achieving this feat will make India the third team in the history ODI cricket to win 150 plus games under a wicket keeper; others being  Australia  (Gilchirst – 199 games) and Sri Lanka (Sangakkara – 195 games).

• He has scored 6143 runs as captain prior to the start of this series and needs 153 more runs to overhaul the aggregate of Stephen Fleming’s 6295 runs as captain; this will take Dhoni to the second place behind Ponting (8197 runs) as captains who have scored most runs in ODIs.

• He has 19 fifties while leading India on the home soil and needs one more fifty for his 20^th fifty; a feat that will make him the third captain in ODIs to score 20 plus fifties on home soil; others being – Ponting (25) and Graeme Smith (25).

• He has scored 4 centuries while leading India on home soil; with one more century he would share the second place amongst the captains who have scored most centuries on home soil with Smith (5 centuries); Ponting with 10 centuries occupies the first place.

• Dhoni has scored 19 fifties as a captain and wicket keeper on home soil; one more fifty will make him the first wicketkeeper captain to score 20 fifties on home soil in the ODIs.

• If he appears in all the 5 games of this series against South Africa he would become the fourth wicketkeeper batsman to appear in 100 ODIs on home soil; others are- Mark Boucher (133), Sangakkara (129) and Gilchrist (115); Dhoni has played 95 one day games as wicket keeper batsman on home soil.

• He has scored 3407 runs as wicket keeper batsman on home soil; needs 93 more runs for his 3500 runs; achieving this will make him the third batsman in ODIs to score 3500 plus runs on home soil; others are – Sangakkara (4520) and Gilchrist (3960).

• He has scored 2271 runs as captain on home soil; needs 106 runs to overhaul the aggregate of 2376 by Smith; doing so he will occupy the third place in the list of captains who have scored most runs on home soil; others are – Ponting (3093) and Allan Border (2647).

• He needs 377 runs to overhaul the aggregate of 2647 by Alan Border; doing so will take him to the second place in the list of captains who have scored most runs on home soil; Ponting with 3093 runs to his credit occupies the first place.

• Dhoni and Smith share the record for the 4^th place amongst the captains who have led their teams on most occasions on home soil; both have led on 63 occasions. The first ODI at Kanpur will be the 64^th captaincy assignment for Dhoni. He will become the fourth amongst the captains who have led their teams on most occasions on home soil; Border (114), Ponting (89) and Fleming (81) occupy the first three places.

• Dhoni has effected 98 dismissals on home soil prior to the start of this series; needs 2 more for his 100 dismissals; achieving this would make him the sixth wicket keeper in ODIs to affect 100 plus dismissals. Others are Boucher (204), Gilchrist (194), Sangakkara (194), Ian Healy (128) and Brendon McCullum (106).

• MS Dhoni has taken 246 catches as a wk prior to the start of this series; he needs four more catches for his 250 catches; this will make him the fourth wicket keeper in ODIs to pouch 250 plus catches; others are – Gilchrist (417), Boucher (402) and Sangakkara (383).

• MSD who has affected 85 stumping dismissals, needs 5 more such dismissals for his 90^th. This will make him the second wicket keeper to effect 90 plus stumping dismissals in ODIs after Sangakkara; the Sri Lankan legend has affected 99 stumping dismissals.

Stats by HR Gopala Krishna.