Stats: MS Dhoni breaks world record for most ODI not outs

Playing in his 300th ODI, MS Dhoni broke the record for most not outs in ODI history. After the third ODI, he jointly-held the record along with Shaun Pollock and Chaminda Vaas but in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium, he claimed sole custody of the record.

He finished unbeaten on 49 in the fourth ODI as India finished on 375/5 on the back of centuries from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. In the end, the 36-year-old just fell short of becoming just the 13th player to score 100 international fifties. He has finished unbeaten in the 40s 11 times, only Michael Bevan (13) has more such scores.

One of the best finishers the game has ever seen, Dhoni also holds the record for the best average (101.84) in successful ODI run chases. He is also the only batsman to have an average of over 100 in successful ODI chases among all players with at least 1000 runs.

Among players with at least 3,000 ODI runs, Dhoni is one of only five batsmen to have an average in excess of 50. Compatriot and current Indian captain Virat Kohli, South African duo of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers and Michael Bevan are the only others to have achieved that.

In his milestone match, where he became only the sixth ODI Indian to feature in 300 ODIs after Sachin Tendulkar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh, he added another feather to an already glittering cap that is his ODI career.

In the history of ODIs, only 18 players have at least 50 not outs in their career. Apart from Dhoni, who now tops the charts, only Mohammad Azharuddin has managed to finish with more than 50 ODI not outs.

Among the top ten, Dhoni is one of two keepers to feature. The list also includes three all-rounders, three bowlers and just two front-line batsmen apart from the keepers, which merely highlights the difficulty of remaining not out in ODIs and the benefit of batting lower down the order.

Dhoni is the only Indian player to feature in the top ten. South Africa, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand all have two players on this list while all-rounder Abdul Razzaq is the only Pakistan player in the top ten.

Here is the complete list of players with most ODI not outs: