ODI Cricket: Top 10 greatest batting streaks

#9 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (India): 2011-2014

England v India - Royal London One-Day Series 2014

Matches: 72, Runs: 2363, Average: 62, Highest: 139*, Strike-Rate: 90, 100/50: 2/18.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni had a similar hot streak between 2007-2009. He was bludgeoning attacks left, right and center and was crowned the top ranked ODI batsman ahead of Ponting, Kallis, Hussey and the ilk. It was MS at his flamboyant best but it is Dhoni between 2011-2014 that gets the preference here,and it is not very close.

Post the 2011 World Cup, the old guard was struggling, the new generation was yet to establish itself and less said of the Indian bowling, the better. Among all this chaos was Dhoni, carrying a mediocre side to respectability with his batting, keeping and captaincy.

Between January 2011 and June 2014, Dhoni played 72 matches and scored 2363 runs at an average of 62. It included 2 hundreds and 18 half-centuries. Most of those runs were scored with his back against the wall, the greatest example being the 113* against Pakistan in Chennai, 2012.

He led them to a World Cup triumph in 2011, his 91* against Sri Lanka in the final is the stuff of folklore. In 2013, Dhoni ushered in a new era by leading a relatively new squad to a Champions Trophy title.

For all the wins he has achieved, my fondest Dhoni memory will be the grace with which he led the Indian side during the 2011 tour of England. His team was lambasted by all and sundry.

He withstood the barrage with a smile on his face, and on the field he bunted the English attack. Dhoni scored 234 runs at an average of 78 in that ODI series, and was the only Indian player standing among the ruins. It was emblematic of Dhoni the person as well as Dhoni the Indian captain.