Such is the enigma of MS Dhoni that whatever he does nowadays becomes some sort of a record. Tuesday was no different but this time the record was not something he would be proud of. A couple of days after beating limited overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma as the highest six-hitter for India in ODIs, Dhoni added an unwanted record to his name in the second ODI against Australia at Nagpur on Tuesday.
Dhoni registered a golden duck for the first time in his ODI career after almost nine years. The last time Dhoni was dismissed for a golden duck in an ODI was against Australia at Vizag in 2010.
Dhoni got an outside edge when he tried to cut leg-spinner Adam Zampa. Usman Khawaja at first slip took a nice reflex catch as the ball was travelling. Captain Aaron Finch too deserves some credit as he decided to keep a slip after India had just lost Kedar Jadhav off the previous Zampa delivery. From a comfortable position of 171 for 4, India slid to 171 for 6 in a matter of a few minutes.
This was only the 10th occasion where Dhoni got out for a duck in his ODI career while this was his 5th golden duck in total. As a matter of fact, Dhoni has registered the most number of ODI ducks against Australia. He has been dismissed for a duck against Australia on three occasions, the first time being in 2010 in Vizag, the second one was in Canberra in 2016 and the third was at Nagpur today.
The last time Dhoni was dismissed before Tuesday was against Hong Kong in an Asia Cup match in Dubai last year.
Interestingly, Dhoni started off his career with a golden duck in Dhaka against Bangladesh when he was run out in 2004.
India lead the five-match ODI series 1-0. Dhoni remained unbeaten on 59 in Hyderabad to help India chase down the 238-run target with six-wicket in the bank.