Middle Order is a spectrum of batting positions that range from upper to lower middle order.
The positions from no.3 to no. 6/7 can be considered as a middle-order position. Now taking an average of these batting positions we can determine that no. 4 and no. 5 are the main batsmen who carry out the role of a middle order batsman.
There is Virat Kohli who for the most his life batted at no. 3. Virat Kohli for me is the greatest ODI batsman of all time along with Tendulkar. There is another great Vivian Richards who also played most of his cricket batting at no.3. Despite their greatness, I would like to omit them from my answer because of the batting position as no.3 is considered at among top order batting positions and upper middle order batting position.
AB De Villers
For the most of his batting career, AB, one of the greatest ODI players of all time, batted at no.4, the most ideal middle order batting position. AB De Villers has batted 103 innings at no. 4 and has scored 4907 runs with an average of above 55. He has ended his international cricketing career going down as one of the greatest ODI players of all time. If I were to make an all-time greatest ODI XI, AB De Villers is most definitely batting at no. 4 or no.5.
Records apart, the amount of impact his innings have had on these games were immense. I cannot think of anyone playing a better role of a no. 4/no. 5 batsman in ODI cricket.
MS Dhoni
This man is one of the greatest ODI players and greatest finisher of all time. A middle order is responsible for a good finish and who better than this man. He batted at no.3 at the start of his career and has all his staggering records at no.3 itself but he batted lower down the batting order most of his career. He did not bat at any position as a fixed batsman rather assisted middle order as per the team’s requirements. Having scored more than 10000 runs in 321 matches, MS Dhoni averages above 51 in ODI’s. This man has delivered when the team needed him.
He cannot be specified by batting position as he is the perfect all-round middle-order batsman who can bat at any given batting position. He carried the whole middle order by himself every time the top order failed.
Have a look at these phenomenal records which Dhoni and De Villers are part of:
Image Source: 10 Big Stats From AB de Villiers’ International Career
Image Source: 10 Big Stats From AB de Villiers’ International Career
