MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina chose 15th August to announce their respective retirements from International cricket in space of an hour.
While the nation was celebrating India's 73rd Independence Day, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina chose 15th August to announce their respective retirements from International cricket in space of an hour.
The duo, be it for Team India or for their Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK), have shown how great their relationship is on and off the field.
While MS Dhoni’s career was spread between 2004 and 2019 for 15 years, Raina represented India for 13 years during the same period as Dhoni.
The pair were involved in many match-winning partnerships for India down the order, so let's look at some significant stats and numbers recorded between the two.
1. Number of century partnerships and successful chases in ODI
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All the nine-century stands in ODI cricket between Dhoni and Raina have come while batting for the 4th and lower wicket; which are the joint-most for any pair.
Dhoni also had nine 100+ stands with Yuvraj Singh in ODIs for the 4th and lower wickets.
MSD and Raina have six-century partnerships between them for the 5th and lower wickets in ODI cricket. This is the most for any pair.
The duo also has 15 fifty partnerships while batting together for 5th and lower wicket which also being the highest for any pair.
As for successful chases in ODI, the pair have been unbeaten eight times. Only AB de Villiers-JP Duminy (11) stood unbeaten more times in successful ODI chases than Dhoni-Raina.
2. Suresh Raina part of MS Dhoni's playing XI
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Suresh Raina has been part of India’s winning XIs on 129 instances under MS Dhoni's captaincy. These are the most International wins for any captain while fielding a specific player in the XI.
In the 129 wins, Dhoni-Raina are the joint 5th highest for any captain while fielding a specific player in the XI.
India has also won as many as 88 ODI matches whenever Suresh Raina was part of the playing XI under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.
No Indian captain has won more ODIs while fielding a certain player than Dhoni while playing Raina. The left-handed batsman played 153 ODIs when Dhoni was the skipper out of which India lost only 55.
3. Chennai Super Kings perfect duo
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Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the driving forces behind the team. He has led the team to playoffs in all the nine seasons the team has participated in.
As for Suresh Raina, he is the highest scorer of Chennai Super Kings (5369 runs). Raina has been the most reliable batsman of the team and has played every match of the franchise.
Raina also has scored two centuries for CSK while he has 37 fifties - these two being most for the franchise.
As for MSD, he has hit the most sixes (209 sixes).
4. Only pair in ODI history to put on 2000+ runs for 5th and lower wickets
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Scoring 2816 runs, the duo of Dhoni and Raina is the only pair in ODI history to put on 2000+ runs for 5th and lower wickets.
Dhoni-Raina duo added 3382 runs for the 5th and lower wickets in International cricket which are the 2nd highest behind 3667 runs by Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan.
5. Partnership runs by Dhoni-Raina for 4th and lower wickets in ODI
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The 3484 partnership runs by Dhoni-Raina pair for 4th and lower wickets in ODI cricket are the most for any pair.
The two have been involved in 71 ODI stands for 4th and lower wickets and have a partnership average of 57.11.
The partnership average of 102.6 between Dhoni and Raina in successful ODI chases is the 2nd highest by a pair in Men’s cricket with 1000+ partnership runs.
Only JP Duminy and AB de Villiers pair (107.54) has a better partnership average.
The Australia Women’s pair of Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry is well ahead with as the pair averages 173.83 in successful ODI chases.
