1. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an Indian professional cricketer who plays as a right-handed batter and a wicket-keeper.
112 Facts About MS Dhoni
1. 2.
MS Dhoni has captained the most international matches and is the most successful Indian captain.
3.
MS Dhoni has led India to victory in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 Cricket World Cup, and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, being the only captain to win three different limited overs ICC tournaments.
4.
MS Dhoni led the teams that won the Asia Cup in 2010,2016 and was a member of the title winning squad in 2018.
5.
MS Dhoni made his debut for the Indian cricket team on 23 December 2004 in an ODI against Bangladesh and played his first test a year later against Sri Lanka.
6.
MS Dhoni retired from test cricket in 2014 but continued playing in limited overs cricket till 2019.
7.
MS Dhoni has scored 17,266 runs in international cricket including 10,000 plus runs at an average of more than 50 in ODIs.
8.
MS Dhoni has led CSK to two Champions League T20 titles in 2010 and 2014.
9.
MS Dhoni is among the few batsmen to have scored more than five thousand runs in the IPL, as well as being the first wicket-keeper to do so.
10.
In 2008, MS Dhoni was awarded India's highest sport honour Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award by Government of India.
11.
MS Dhoni received the fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri in 2009 and third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan in 2018.
12.
MS Dhoni holds an honorary rank of Lieutenant colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Indian Territorial Army which was presented to him by the Indian Army in 2011.
13.
MS Dhoni was born on 7 July 1981 in Ranchi, Bihar in a Hindu Rajput family to Pan Singh and Devaki Devi.
14.
MS Dhoni's parents hailed from Lwali village in Uttar Pradesh and he was the youngest of three children.
15.
The spelling "MS Dhoni" emerged due to a spelling mistake in his school certificates and, despite repeated attempts by his family, has never been rectified.
16.
MS Dhoni did his schooling from DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, where he started playing football as a goalkeeper, but later moved to play cricket on the suggestion of his coach Keshav Banerjee.
17.
From 2001 to 2003, MS Dhoni worked as a Travelling Ticket Examiner at Kharagpur under South Eastern Railway zone of Indian Railways.
18.
MS Dhoni played as a wicket-keeper for Commando cricket club from 1995 to 1998 and Central Coal Fields Limited team in 1998.
19.
MS Dhoni finished the season with 283 runs in 5 matches.
20.
MS Dhoni was identified as one of the emerging talents via the BCCI's small-town talent-spotting initiative TRDW.
21.
In 2004, MS Dhoni was picked for the India A squad for a tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya.
22.
MS Dhoni made his debut in the first match of the series and was run out for a duck.
23.
MS Dhoni was picked for the subsequent ODI series against Pakistan.
24.
MS Dhoni ended the series with the highest aggregate of 346 runs and was awarded the Man of the series.
25.
MS Dhoni became a regular in the Indian side after the home series against South Africa in November 2005.
26.
In December 2005, MS Dhoni was awarded a "B" grade contract by the BCCI.
27.
MS Dhoni made his test debut in the same month against Sri Lanka during their tour of India at Chennai.
28.
MS Dhoni scored 30 runs in his debut match, that was marred by rain and ended in a draw.
29.
MS Dhoni made his maiden half-century in the second test leading to an Indian win.
30.
MS Dhoni played all the matches in the subsequent tour of Pakistan scoring 219 runs in five ODI matches and 179 runs in five tests including his maiden test century in the second test in Faisalabad.
31.
MS Dhoni scored 106 runs across three tests in the home series against England in March 2006 and 177 runs in five ODI series that followed.
32.
MS Dhoni dropped multiple catches and missed dismissal chances including a key stumping opportunity of Andrew Flintoff which led to criticism of his wicket-keeping.
33.
MS Dhoni made his T20 international debut in December 2006 against South Africa at Johannesburg.
34.
MS Dhoni was named in the ODI team of the year by the ICC for 2006.
35.
Subsequently, MS Dhoni was part of the squad for 2007 Cricket World Cup in which India unexpectedly crashed out in the group stage after losses to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka with MS Dhoni scoring ducks in both these matches and just 29 runs in the tournament.
36.
MS Dhoni scored 91* against Bangladesh in the first match of the ODI series in May 2007 which fetched the Man of the Match award while later winning the Man of the Series after the third game of the series was washed away.
37.
MS Dhoni played for ACC Asia XI cricket team in the Afro-Asia Cup, scoring 174 runs in three matches at an average of 87 including 139 off 97 balls in the third ODI.
38.
MS Dhoni was named vice-captain of the ODI team for the 2007 Future Cup against South Africa in Ireland and the subsequent seven-match series against England.
39.
MS Dhoni was awarded an 'A' grade contract by BCCI in June 2007.
40.
MS Dhoni was appointed as the captain of the Indian squad for the inaugural World Twenty20 in September 2007.
41.
MS Dhoni led India to victory in the tournament after defeating Pakistan in the final.
42.
MS Dhoni was appointed as the captain of Indian cricket team in all formats later.
43.
On 2 September 2007, MS Dhoni equalled Adam Gilchrist's international record for the most dismissals in an innings in ODI by effecting six dismissals against England.
44.
MS Dhoni took his first and only wicket in international cricket on 30 September 2009 when he bowled Travis Dowlin of West Indies in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.
45.
MS Dhoni scored two centuries during Sri Lanka's tour of India in November 2009 which India won to achieve the top ranking in ICC test ranking for the first time in its history.
46.
MS Dhoni had an excellent year in ODIs in 2009, scoring 1198 runs in just 24 innings, at an average of 70.43 and topped the ICC ODI batsman rankings for several months.
47.
MS Dhoni was named as the captain and wicket-keeper of the ICC ODI Team of the year.
48.
MS Dhoni led the Indian squad for the 2011 Cricket World Cup co-hosted by India.
49.
India won its second ever ODI world cup after defeating Sri Lanka in the final with MS Dhoni being named man of the match for scoring an unbeaten 91.
50.
In December 2012, Pakistan toured India for a bilateral series for the first time in five years and MS Dhoni top-scored in all the three matches of the series with a century in the first ODI at Chennai.
51.
MS Dhoni led India to victory in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and became the first and the only captain in international cricket to claim all ICC limited overs trophies.
52.
MS Dhoni was named as captain and wicketkeeper of the 'Team of the Tournament' by the ICC.
53.
MS Dhoni got injured at the start of the tournament thus ruling him out for most of the tournament and returned to play the final where he was adjudged Man of the match for scoring 45 runs off 52 balls including 16 runs in the final cricket to take India to victory by one wicket.
54.
In November 2013, MS Dhoni became the second India batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to aggregate more than thousand runs in ODIs against Australia.
55.
MS Dhoni himself reached 8000 runs in ODI in the series against New Zealand.
56.
MS Dhoni led India in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 where India finished as runners-up after losing to Sri Lanka in the final.
57.
MS Dhoni was named as captain and wicket-keeper of the 'Team of the Tournament' by the ICC.
58.
India won the away ODI series in England in 2014 and series against West Indies in India where MS Dhoni scored 146 runs across the five innings he batted.
59.
MS Dhoni played his last series during India's tour of Australia in December 2014.
60.
India lost to eventual champions Australia in the semi-finals with MS Dhoni having a good series, scoring 237 runs in six innings at an average of 59.25 and a strike rate of 102.15 and thus, became only the second Indian captain to have an average over 50 and strike rate over 100 in a particular season of the World Cup.
61.
MS Dhoni led India to victory in the 2016 Asia Cup, where India remained unbeaten.
62.
MS Dhoni stepped down as the captain of India in January 2017, ahead of the ODI series at home against England.
63.
MS Dhoni was named as a wicket-keeper of the 'Team of the Tournament' at the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy in which India finished as runners-up.
64.
MS Dhoni reached the milestone of effecting 400 dismissals in ODIs in February 2018, following the stumping of Aiden Markram in the third ODI of the South Africa tour.
65.
MS Dhoni aggregated 50 runs from three innings in the home series against West Indies.
66.
MS Dhoni was not selected for the T20I squad for the series that followed and the Australia tour later that season.
67.
On 9 July 2019, MS Dhoni played in his 350th and final ODI in the semi-final loss against New Zealand.
68.
MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on 15 August 2020 as he had not played any international cricket since India's loss in the 2019 World Cup semi-final.
69.
MS Dhoni played for Bihar state cricket team since 1999 before representing Jharkhand later.
70.
MS Dhoni has played for Rajasthan Cricket Association President's XI, East zone and Rest of India in domestic cricket.
71.
MS Dhoni was acquired by Chennai Super Kings for US$1.5 million during the auction for the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League.
72.
MS Dhoni was the most expensive signing in the auction.
73.
MS Dhoni scored 414 runs to lead CSK to the finals in the first season of IPL.
74.
MS Dhoni scored 392 runs and led CSK to its second consecutive IPL title in 2011.
75.
MS Dhoni led CSK to its second Champions League Twenty20 title in 2014.
76.
MS Dhoni scored 2987 runs from 129 matches in the IPL across the first eight seasons for the Super Kings.
77.
MS Dhoni scored 574 runs in 30 matches across two seasons for the Supergiants.
78.
MS Dhoni scored 455 runs and led his team to its third IPL title.
79.
MS Dhoni led CSK to the title again in 2021 and was retained for 12 crore before the auction for the 2022 season.
80.
MS Dhoni stepped down from captaincy ahead of that season and Ravindra Jadeja was appointed the new captain.
81.
MS Dhoni led the franchise to victory again the following season.
82.
MS Dhoni became the first player to play 200 T20 matches for CSK and holds the record for most appearances in the IPL.
83.
Ahead of the 2024 season, MS Dhoni handed over captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad.
84.
MS Dhoni marked his 250th appearance for CSK in that season, in a league stage match against Mumbai Indians on 14 April 2024, helping his team secure a 20-run win, following his unbeaten four-ball 20.
85.
MS Dhoni holds an honorary rank of Lieutenant colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Indian Territorial Army.
86.
MS Dhoni is a co-owner of Chennai-based football club Chennaiyin FC, a franchise of the Indian Super League.
87.
In February 2016, MS Dhoni launched lifestyle brand SEVEN which he co-owns while serving as its brand ambassador.
88.
In 2019, MS Dhoni invested in vehicle re-seller CARS24 and simultaneously became brand ambassador of the company.
89.
On 11 October 2022, MS Dhoni invested in Shaka Harry, a plant-based protein company.
90.
In 2019, MS Dhoni Entertainment entered into a long-term business agreement with Banijay Asia to produce content across various genres.
91.
MS Dhoni is one of the most popular cricketers in the world.
92.
MS Dhoni serves as a brand ambassador and endorses more than 35 brands across various segments.
93.
MS Dhoni's popularity is often compared to Sachin Tendulkar, the highest run scorer in international cricket.
94.
The No 7 jersey was made popular by MS Dhoni and was retired by the BCCI in 2023 as a honour to him.
95.
MS Dhoni has developed a special connection with the city of Chennai whose IPL franchise he represents and the fans often call him 'Thala' meaning leader in Tamil.
96.
MS Dhoni is an unorthodox batsman who deviates from conventional coaching manuals to showcase his batting technique.
97.
MS Dhoni plays pull shots and hook shots off short-pitched deliveries often putting pressure on the bowler to adjust their line and length accordingly.
98.
MS Dhoni holds the bat with a firm grip at the bottom of the handle, striking the ball with force and precision to clear the boundary.
99.
MS Dhoni is a powerful hitter of the ball and is one of the fastest men in running between the wickets.
100.
MS Dhoni plays the helicopter shot technique, taught to him by a fellow player and childhood friend Santosh Lal.
101.
MS Dhoni is known for his unorthodox captaincy, approachability and has earned a reputation of being a successful leader.
102.
MS Dhoni is known for his cool-headed demeanor on the field which has earned him the monicker "Captain cool".
103.
MS Dhoni married Sakshi Singh Rawat on 4 July 2010 in Dehradun.
104.
MS Dhoni and his wife have a daughter, Ziva MS Dhoni who was born on 6 February 2015.
105.
MS Dhoni is an automotive enthusiast and owns a number of bikes and cars in his collection.
106.
MS Dhoni has scored 4876 runs in Test matches at an average of 38 and 10773 runs at an average of above 50 in ODIs.
107.
MS Dhoni has scored 16 centuries and 108 fifties in his international career.
108.
MS Dhoni has one of the highest averages in ODI cricket.
109.
MS Dhoni has scored more than 7400 runs across 390 T20 matches.
110.
MS Dhoni has taken 634 catches and effected 195 stumpings in his international career, making him one of the most prolific wicket-keepers of all time.
111.
In 2007, MS Dhoni was appointed captain of the captain of the Indian team and served as the captain of all formats from 2008.
112.
MS Dhoni captained the Indian team in 332 matches including 200 ODIs and was one of the most prolific and successful captains of all time.