Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Commonly known as M.
S. Dhoni; born on 7th July 1981) is an Indian cricketer who captained the Indian
team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2016 and in Test cricket from
2008 to 2014. An attacking right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper,
he is widely regarded as one of the greatest finishers in limited-overs
cricket. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut in
December 2004 against Bangladesh, and played his first Test a year later
against Sri Lanka.
Dhoni holds numerous
captaincy records such as most wins by an Indian captain in Tests and ODIs, and
most back-to-back wins by an Indian captain in ODIs. He took over the ODI
captaincy from Rahul Dravid in 2007 and led the team to its
first-ever bilateral ODI series wins in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Under his
captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the CB Series of
2007–08, the 2010 Asia Cup, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013
ICC Champions Trophy. In the final of the 2011 World Cup, Dhoni scored 91 not
out off 79 balls handing India the victory for which he was awarded
the Man of the Match. In June 2013, when India defeated England in the final of
the Champions Trophy in England, Dhoni became the first captain to win all
three ICC limited-overs trophies (World Cup, Champions Trophy and the World
Twenty20). After taking up the Test captaincy in 2008, he led the team to
series wins in New Zealand and West Indies, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in
2008, 2010 and 2013. In 2009, Dhoni also led the Indian team to number one
position for the first time in the ICC Test rankings. In 2013, under his
captaincy, India became the first team in more than 40 years to whitewash Australia
in a Test series. In the Indian Premier League, he captained the Chennai
Super Kings to victory at the 2010 and 2011 seasons,
along with wins in the 2010 and 2014 editions of Champions
League Twenty20. He announced his retirement from Tests on 30 December 2014.
Dhoni holds the post of
Vice-President of India Cements Ltd., after resigning from Air India.
India Cements is the owner of the IPL team Chennai Super Kings, and Dhoni has
been its captain since the first IPL season. Dhoni is the co-owner of Indian
Super League team Chennaiyin FC.
Dhoni has been the
recipient of many awards, including the ICC ODI Player of the Year award
in 2008 and 2009 (the first player to win the award twice), the Rajiv
Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2007 and the Padma Shri, India's fourth
highest civilian honour, in 2009. He was named as the captain of ICC World
Test XI and ICC World ODI XI teams for 2009. The Indian Territorial Army conferred
the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel to Dhoni on 1 November 2011.
He is the second Indian cricketer after Kapil Dev to have received
this honour. In 2011, Time magazine included Dhoni in its annual Time
100 list as one of the "Most Influential People in the World." In
2012, SportsPro rated Dhoni as the sixteenth most marketable athlete
in the world. In June 2015, Forbes ranked Dhoni at 23rd in the list
of highest paid athletes in the world, estimating his earnings at US$31
million. In 2016, a biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story was made
on him.
Career
statistics
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Dhoni's
record as captain
Tests: 60 Matches, 27 Wins, 18 Losses, 15 Draws
ODIs: 199 Matches, 110 Wins, 74 Losses, 4 Ties, 11 No Results
T20Is: 72 Matches, 41 Wins, 28 Losses, 1 Tie, 2 No Results
Latest News
MSK Prasad, the
chairman of the national selection committee, has backed MS Dhoni's decision to
relinquish captaincy of the Indian One-Day International and Twenty20
International teams. Dhoni's decision was conveyed by the Board of Control for
Cricket in India on Wednesday (January 4), two days before the announcement of
the squads for the limited-overs series against England at home.
"Had Mahi taken
the decision one year or even six months earlier, I would have been a bit
worried," Prasad said on Thursday. "But I salute him for his sense of
perfect timing. He knew that Virat is now a proven customer who has done exceptionally
well as a leader in Tests. So it is a correct decision by Dhoni. It showed that
he had the best interest of Indian cricket in his mind."
Prasad also hailed
Dhoni's ability to read a match at any situation and insisted that he had
achieved everything as a leader over the years. "I believe his match
reading was brilliant," he noted. "That's why he was quick on his
feet and could assess any situation with a lot of clarity. For a captain,
foresight is an important aspect and he had that in abundance."
"What else was
left for him to achieve as a captain? He has achieved everything under the sun
in his tenure as India captain," Prasad pointed out. "He has won
World T20, 50-over World Cup, Champions Trophy, all three global trophies.
Apart from that, he has won IPL, Champions League T20. He has nothing to prove
to anybody. He has been a great leader."
With the Champions
Trophy coming up in six months time followed by the World Cup in 2019, Prasad
believes that Dhoni still has plenty to offer to the limited-overs sides as a wicketkeeper-batsman.
"I still feel he has a couple of years of cricket left in him and as a
wicketkeeper-batsman, he can still make an invaluable contribution to the
team's cause."
Even though it
appeared as if Dhoni's finishing prowess had dwindled a little bit in the last
15 months or so, Prasad insisted that it had nothing to do with the burden of
leading the side. "I don't think it would be fair on anybody's part to
equate his batting with captaincy," he said. "I don't think these two
were co-related. Yes, it was purely an issue of form and nothing else."
With Virat Kohli all
set to take over the mantle of leading the side in all three formats, Prasad
observed that Dhoni's presence would help him settle down. "Dhoni's
presence will help Kohli as he now captains across three formats. Had he quit,
Virat would have missed out on his immense experience."
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