MS

Dhoni

MS Dhoni Biography and Career

MS Dhoni is a pioneer, a legend of Indian cricket who redefined the way captaincy is done and most importantly taught the team to win the ICC trophies which were missing from the Indian cricket cabinet. India has for the longest time produced astute cricketers, those who have gone on to become greats of the game. But as a nation, India always faltered at ICC events and in crunch tournaments. 

Since 1983, India had not won a single ICC trophy for years. Then came Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and India’s fortunes took an upswing. 

Dhoni was born in Ranchi, Bihar (now Jharkhand) in 1981 in a non-cricketing family. Coming from a state where one wouldn’t find any cricketers making it to the national team, it was not easy for Dhoni growing up. The facilities were not always up to the mark, but Dhoni came up with a batting and wicket-keeping technique of his own to make it to the top. 

Right from a young age, Dhoni created waves in the local Jharkhand circuit for being someone who is safe as houses behind the stumps and can give the ball a fair crack. But not being from one of the main centres of Indian cricket, he was overlooked for the longest time. It was only after a Talent and Research Development Wing was set up that Dhoni was spotted. He was picked for India’s tour of Bangladesh in 2004 and was run out for a duck. But he was given a long run and he repaid the selectors’ faith with a brutal 148 against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam. The next year in 2005, Dhoni amassed 183* against Sri Lanka and he soon became the darling of the Indian fans.

It was in 2007 when Dhoni, the captain came to the fore and for the next few years, India ruled the ICC tournaments, something that was missing from their kitty. A few days before the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007, plenty of the senior players opted out of the tournament. 

On the recommendation of Sachin Tendulkar, the BCCI decided to make Dhoni the captain of a young side which was about to embark on a T20 World Cup journey. Not much was expected from this side as India had hardly played any T20 cricket. But to everyone’s shock and awe, this MS Dhoni-led side did the unthinkable and beat Pakistan in a humdinger of a final to lift the T20 World Cup trophy.

That began the journey of Dhoni, the ice-cool captain. Calm on the field, but very methodical in his ways, under Dhoni India lifted the T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup and the Champions Trophy, the three most important trophies in the ICC calendar. As a batter, Dhoni shattered the notion that a wicket-keeper is not supposed to be a good batter and as a keeper, he was agile, swift and barely missed a beat.

After the success at the 2007 T20 World Cup, Dhoni was handed the ODI and Test reins as well. In 2011, he led India to the grand prize of winning the ODI World Cup for the first time in 28 years. Under Dhoni, India also became the No. 1 Test side for the first time in history and topped the Test rankings for 18 months. India had some of its best years under Dhoni’s leadership across different formats. They also won the Champions Trophy in 2013 and with that, Dhoni became the first captain in the history of the game to hold all three coveted ICC trophies. 

With the bat, Dhoni was finisher supreme. A hard-hitting batsman at the start of his career, Dhoni moved down the order later on and finished many games for his side with his supreme abilities. He always used to say that the pressure in the final over is on the bowler more than the batsman, and he has pulled many last-over chases. As a batsman, while he excelled in Tests and T20Is, the ODI format was where he was at his best. Dhoni amassed more than 10,000 runs in ODIs despite batting lower down the order for a chunk of his career. Amongst the many important knocks, probably the most crucial was when he smashed a six to give India the ODI World Cup in 2011.

Dhoni retired from Test cricket in 2015 and gave up captaincy across formats a few years later. In 2019, he played his final innings at the 2019 ODI World Cup. The following year, Dhoni in a much-loved video on Instagram captioned “Thanks for your love and support throughout.from 1929 consider me as Retired”, bowed out from the game. 

MS Dhoni in the IPL

As much as Dhoni is famous for his captaincy stint with the Indian team, his exploits in the IPL made him a cult figure. He was picked up by Chennai Super Kings in the inaugural edition of the IPL and made captain. Thus Chennai’s <i>Thala</i> was born. Dhoni has been the face of the CSK franchise and is adored by the fans. 

In the 14 seasons that he led CSK, Dhoni captained the team to 10 finals and won five titles - in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2019 and 2021. He also led CSK into the playoffs in 12 out of the 14 editions. Barring a few games in IPL 2022, Dhoni has been the CSK captain since the start and has led them in over 200 matches. The only time that Dhoni moved away from CSK was when the franchise was banned in 2016 and 2017 and he played for the now defunct Rising Pune Supergiants.

Dhoni was the first player to record more than 250 IPL games and is still going strong and expected to play in IPL 2025. Ahead of the 2024 season, Dhoni relinquished captaincy and handed over the reins to Ruturaj Gaikwad.  

Beyond Cricket

Away from cricket, Dhoni is an avid bike collector and has close to 100 superbikes in his home in Ranchi. Dhoni used to be quite active on social media at one point but now barely posts anything. On X (formerly Twitter), Dhoni has close to 50 million followers, while on Instagram he has over eight million followers.

Dhoni married Sakshi Singh Rawat on July 4, 2010 in Dehradun. The couple have a daughter Ziva Singh Dhoni who was born on February 6, 2015.  

Dhoni has endorsed several brands including Cleartrip, TVS Motor, Ashok Leyland, Orient Electric, Gulf Oil, Eurogrip Tyres, and Exide batteries among others. As of 2025, Dhoni’s net worth stands at more than 1000 crore. He is also an active investor in other sports such as football, hockey, and the Supersport World Championship.

A movie based on Dhoni’s life from his childhood to the 2011 ODI World Cup win was released in 2016 titled: M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story. 

MS Dhoni Awards

• ICC ODI Player of the Year: 2008, 2009
• Padma Shri Award, which is India's fourth-highest civilian award: 2009.
• Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, which is India's highest honour in sports: 2007–08.
• Honorary doctorate by De Montfort University: August 2011.
• Padma Bhushan Award, which is India's third-highest civilian award: 2018.
• Holds an honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Indian Territorial Army. 
• Holds the post of vice-president in India Cements Ltd.

MS Dhoni Records 

MS Dhoni ODI Records

• Second-most ODI wins as a captain (110) and the highest for an Indian
• Is third on the list for most matches as captain of a team (200)
• Second most runs as a captain (6641)
• The first player to cross 10,000 ODI runs with an average in excess of 50
• Has the most stumpings by a wicket-keeper (123) 

MS Dhoni Test Records

• Under Dhoni's captaincy, India topped the ICC rankings for the first time in 2009
• Has the highest score for an Indian wicketkeeper-batsman in Test cricket (224)
• With 27 wins, Dhoni is second on the list for the most successful captain in Indian cricket
• Has scored the most runs by an Indian wicket-keeper (4876)
• Has the most number of sixes by an Indian captain (78)
• Most dismissals by an Indian and fifth most by any wicket-keeper (294)

MS Dhoni T20I Records

• Has the second-most dismissals in T20Is as a wicket-keeper (91)
• Is the second-most successful captain for India in T20Is with 41 wins
• Has captained India in most matches (72)
• Holds the record for the most consecutive innings without a duck in T20Is (84) 

MS Dhoni Overall International Records

• Has the most international matches as captain (332)
• Is third on the list for the most dismissals effected in international cricket (829: 634 catches and 195 stumpings)
• Has effected the most stumpings in international cricket (195)

MS Dhoni World Cup Records

• Captained India to the T20 World Cup 2007 and ODI World 2011 titles

MS Dhoni IPL Records

• Most IPL titles as captain: Dhoni has won five titles as Chennai Super Kings captain, the joint-most alongside Rohit Sharma  
• Second-most IPL titles as a player: Dhoni has won five IPL titles (all CSK). Only Rohit has more titles than Dhoni in the IPL.
• Most IPL matches: Dhoni was the first player to play 250 matches in the IPL and is currently top of the list for the most matches played by any player in the tournament (264)
• IPL runs: Dhoni is sixth on the list for the most IPL runs (5243)
• Most catches and stumpings: Dhoni has taken 148 catches and effected 42 stumpings, which is the most for any player in the league. He has a combined 190 dismissals in the IPL.
• Most matches as captain: Dhoni has led in 226 matches in the IPL, which is the most 
• Win percentage: Dhoni’s win percentage of 58.84 is the best for any captain in the IPL