On his 40th birthday, Cricket Australia pays homage to MS Dhoni by sharing a video of the former India captain’s huge sixes. Under the Southern Cross

Cricket Australia paid a special homage to former India captain MS Dhoni on his 40th birthday on Wednesday.

MS Dhoni’s devastating power-hitting talents were one among the numerous characteristics that became synonymous with him, aside from his keen leadership acumen. In reality, Dhoni’s power-hitting was already creating ripples in international cricket before he became the captain. The 183-run knock against Sri Lanka, the 148 against Pakistan at Vizag, and the helicopter shot were all part of Dhoni’s arsenal.

Dhoni has 78 Test sixes, 229 ODI sixes, and 52 T20I sixes. In one-day internationals, he is India’s second-best six-hitter, behind Rohit Sharma but ahead of Sachin Tendulkar. Against Australia, Dhoni has always enjoyed smashing sixes. Remember Clint McKay’s huge six off his bowling that gave India a thrilling ODI victory in the 2012 CB Series? Well, it turns out it was one of his 60 sixes against Australia in various formats.

Dhoni has 270 sixes for India while batting at Nos. 5 and 7 in all forms. It’s also worth noting that Dhoni is the only middle-order batsman in international cricket’s top five six-hitters. Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Rohit Sharma, and Brendon McCullum are among the top cricketers in the world.

Dhoni became the first batter to hit 10 sixes in an ODI inning during his 183-run performance against Sri Lanka. After Virender Sehwag and Misbah-Ul-Haq, Dhoni’s aggregate of 78 sixes in Tests is the third-highest by a sub-continent player.