5 notable statistics from the recent Australia vs India ODI series

#4 MS Dhoni averaged 193 for the series

Dhoni returned to form, guiding India home in the final two ODIs

Dhoni's performance in the first ODI raised a lot of questions about his selection. His 51 in 96 balls seemed to greatly hamper India's chase, despite Dhoni being renowned for his ability to finish an innings.

Furthermore, this came on the back of a poor 2018 for Dhoni, where he averaged just 25.00 and had a meagre strike-rate of 71.43. 2018 also signalled the first time since his debut year in 2004 where Dhoni went a whole calendar year without scoring a fifty in ODIs.

However, by the end of the series, Dhoni had led his team to victory in two close chases, and had ensured he started 2019 with three consecutive fifties.

Dhoni's innings in the second and third ODIs were two masterclasses in chasing, with India winning both these games with Dhoni at the center and four balls to spare.

One notable statistic from Dhoni's innings in these two ODIs, is that only 36 of his 142 runs came from boundaries. This subsequently shows Dhoni's ability to keep the scorecard ticking over, and to adjust to a target fraction by fraction.

If Dhoni can maintain this type of form into the World Cup, then he will be a priceless quantity for India, who arguably already have the two best ODI batsmen in the world in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.