#2 MS Dhoni - 183* vs Sri Lanka, Jaipur, 2005
Despite having an ODI average in excess of 50 and over 9,000 runs in the format, MS Dhoni will begrudgingly admit that he would have had a whole lot more if they batted up the order. One of the best finishers that the game has ever seen also had the knack of scoring big and early in his ODI career, he did that whenever he was promoted up the order.
One such instance of him doing the business after being promoted came against Sri Lanka in Jaipur. On the back of a brilliant century by Kumar Sangakkara, Sri Lanka posted 298/4 in the third ODI. After Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed in the first over of the run chase, Dhoni walked in and what happened next is pure Dhoni magic.
Not only did Dhoni register his career-best ODI score of 183* but also looked certain to break the world record for highest score in an ODI, only to fall short of runs and achieve the required target with 23 balls to spare. Dhoni's 145-ball knock comprised of 15 fours and 10 sixes and showed just how lethal he can be if he bats in the top-order, something he has seldom done throughout his career.
