118 Facts About MS Dhoni

1.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, commonly known as MS Dhoni, is a former Indian cricketer and captain of the Indian national team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014, who plays as a Wicket-keeper-Batsman.

2.

MS Dhoni is the current captain of Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.

3.

MS Dhoni is the first cricketer to be a winning captain of all three major ICC trophies, as under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 Cricket World Cup, and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, the most by any captain.

4.

MS Dhoni led India to victory in the 2010 and 2016 Asia Cup.

5.

MS Dhoni has scored 17,266 runs in International Cricket.

6.

MS Dhoni made his ODI debut on 23 December 2004, against Bangladesh in Chittagong, and played his first Test a year later against Sri Lanka.

7.

MS Dhoni played his first T20I a year later against South Africa.

8.

MS Dhoni is the captain of Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, leading them to the final on 9 occasions and winning in the 2010,2011,2018 and 2021 editions of the league, as well as winning the Champions League T20 two times, in 2010 and 2014.

9.

MS Dhoni is the 7th cricketer have scored more than 5,000 runs in the IPL, as well as being the first wicket-keeper to do so.

10.

MS Dhoni received India's highest sports honour, the Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna Award in 2008 for his outstanding achievements and the Government of India honoured him India's fourth civilian award Padma Shri in 2009 and third civilian award Padma Bhushan in 2018.

11.

MS Dhoni is the only cricket captain in the world to win all three of the Cricket World Cup, ICC Men's T20 World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy.

12.

MS Dhoni holds an honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Indian Territorial Army, it was presented to him by the Indian Army in 2011 for his service to the nation as a cricketer.

13.

MS Dhoni is considered one of the most popular cricketer in the world.

14.

MS Dhoni is a leading brand endorser celebrity in India.

15.

MS Dhoni announced his retirement from Tests on 30 December 2014, and stepped down as captain of T20Is and ODIs in 2017.

16.

On 15 August 2020, MS Dhoni retired from all formats of international cricket and continues to play in the IPL.

17.

MS Dhoni was born in Ranchi, Bihar and hails from a Hindu Rajput family to parents from Uttarakhand.

18.

MS Dhoni is the youngest of three children of Pan Singh and Devaki Devi.

19.

MS Dhoni's parents moved from Uttarakhand to Ranchi, Jharkhand where his father worked as a pump operator in junior management position in MECON Colony situated in Doranda area in Ranchi.

20.

From 2001 to 2003, MS Dhoni worked as a Travelling Ticket Examiner at Kharagpur railway station under South Eastern Railway in Midnapore, a district in West Bengal.

21.

In 1998, MS Dhoni was selected by Deval Sahay, a former Bihar Cricket Association Vice President and Ranchi District Cricket President, to play for the Central Coal Fields Limited team.

22.

Till 1998 MS Dhoni, who was in 12th grade, had never played professional cricket.

23.

MS Dhoni moved to the Ranchi team, the junior Bihar cricket team and eventually the senior Bihar Ranji Team within one year.

24.

MS Dhoni was not picked for the East Zone U-19 squad or Rest of India squad.

25.

MS Dhoni made a half century in his debut match scoring 68* in the second innings against Assam cricket team.

26.

MS Dhoni finished the season with 283 runs in 5 matches.

27.

MS Dhoni scored a fighting half-century in the second innings in a losing cause.

28.

MS Dhoni's talent was discovered via the BCCI's small-town talent-spotting initiative TRDW.

29.

MS Dhoni was discovered by TRDO Prakash Poddar, captain of Bengal in the 1960s, when he saw MS Dhoni play for Jharkhand at a match in Jamshedpur in 2003, and sent a report to the National Cricket Academy.

30.

MS Dhoni did not have a great start to his ODI career, getting run out for a duck on debut.

31.

In spite of an average series against Bangladesh, MS Dhoni was picked for the Pakistan ODI series.

32.

MS Dhoni's 148 surpassed the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicket-keeper, a record that he would re-write before the end of the year.

33.

MS Dhoni had few batting opportunities in the first two games of the Sri Lankan bilateral ODI series and was promoted to No 3 in the third ODI at Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

34.

MS Dhoni was promoted to accelerate the scoring and ended the game with an unbeaten 183 off 145 balls, winning the game for India.

35.

MS Dhoni ended the series with the highest run aggregate and was awarded the Man of the Series award for his efforts.

36.

In December 2005, MS Dhoni was rewarded a B-grade contract by the BCCI.

37.

India scored 328 in 50 overs with MS Dhoni contributing 68 in their first match of 2006 against Pakistan.

38.

MS Dhoni's reign lasted just a week as Adam Gilchrist's performance against Bangladesh moved him to the top spot.

39.

MS Dhoni scored 43 runs as the team lost twice in three games and did not qualify for the finals.

40.

India's lack of preparation showed in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy as they lost to West Indies and Australia, though MS Dhoni scored a half-century against West Indies.

41.

MS Dhoni received criticism on his wicket-keeping technique from former wicket-keeper Syed Kirmani.

42.

MS Dhoni was out for a duck in both these matches and scored just 29 runs in the tournament.

43.

MS Dhoni put his disappointing performances in the World Cup behind him by scoring 91* against Bangladesh, after India were left in a tight spot earlier in the run-chase.

44.

MS Dhoni was declared the Man of the Match for his performance, his fourth in ODI cricket.

45.

MS Dhoni was later adjudged the Man of the Series after the third game of the series was washed away.

46.

MS Dhoni had a good Afro-Asia Cup, scoring 174 runs in 3 matches at an average of 87.00, with a blitzkrieg 139 not out off 97 balls, a Man of the Match innings, in the third ODI.

47.

MS Dhoni was named vice-captain of the ODI team for the series against South Africa in Ireland and the subsequent India-England seven-match ODI series.

48.

MS Dhoni, who received a 'B' grade contract in December 2005, was awarded an 'A' grade contract in June 2007.

49.

MS Dhoni was elected as the captain of the Indian squad for the World Twenty20 in September 2007.

50.

On 2 September 2007, MS Dhoni equalled his idol Adam Gilchrist's international record for the most dismissals in an innings in ODI by catching five English players and stumping one.

51.

MS Dhoni took his first and only wicket in international cricket on 30 September 2009.

52.

MS Dhoni bowled Travis Dowlin of the West Indies during a match in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.

53.

MS Dhoni topped the ICC ODI Batsman rankings for several months in 2009.

54.

MS Dhoni had an excellent year in ODIs in 2009, scoring 1198 runs in just 24 innings, at considerably high average of 70.43.

55.

MS Dhoni was the joint top-scorer in ODIs in 2009 along with Ricky Ponting, but the latter having played 30 innings.

56.

MS Dhoni was named as captain and wicketkeeper of the 'Team of the Tournament' by the ICC.

57.

MS Dhoni had gotten injured at the start of the tournament itself and got ruled out for the whole tournament.

58.

MS Dhoni scored an unbeaten 45 off 52 balls while scoring 16 runs in the final over required for the victory.

59.

MS Dhoni was adjudged Man of the match for this performance.

60.

In November 2013, MS Dhoni became the second India batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to aggregate 1,000 or more ODI-runs against Australia.

61.

Against South Africa, MS Dhoni managed 84 runs at an average of 48.0, including one half-century.

62.

MS Dhoni had performed, as he scored a half-century in each of the series.

63.

India's preparation going into the tournament looked poor, as India had failed to perform in the Carlton Mid Triangular Series in Australia, failing to win a single match, with MS Dhoni himself managing 70 runs from three innings and averaging 23.34.

64.

MS Dhoni performed well with the bat by scoring 237 runs in 6 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.

65.

MS Dhoni stepped down as captain of India in the limited over formats in January 2017, just ahead of the ODI series at home against England.

66.

MS Dhoni was named as a wicketkeeper of the 'Team of the Tournament' at the 2017 Champions Trophy by Cricbuzz.

67.

MS Dhoni was named in the ODI XI of the year by Cricbuzz.

68.

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.

69.

MS Dhoni went past 10,000 ODI runs in the second ODI against England during his team's 2018 tour, and became the fourth Indian and twelfth overall to do so.

70.

MS Dhoni had a relatively mediocre series, having scored 79 runs in two innings at a strike rate of 63.20.

71.

MS Dhoni was given rest and thus wasn't available for the selection of the T20I squads for the series that followed and the Australia tour later that season.

72.

MS Dhoni finished with 193 runs and was named player of the series.

73.

MS Dhoni became the fourth Indian to score more than 1,000 ODI runs there.

74.

In July 2019, in India's semi-final match against New Zealand, MS Dhoni played in his 350th ODI.

75.

MS Dhoni scored 30 runs in his debut match, that was marred by rain.

76.

MS Dhoni made his maiden half-century in the second Test and his quick scoring rate helped India set a target of 436, where the Sri Lankans were then bowled out for 247.

77.

MS Dhoni played in his naturally aggressive style as he brought up his maiden Test century in 93 balls, after scoring the first fifty in 34 deliveries.

78.

MS Dhoni was the top scorer in India's first innings in the third Test at Wankhede Stadium as his 64 helped India post 279 in reply to England's 400.

79.

Ultimately, MS Dhoni walked off and Dravid's declaration was effected but the game was delayed, and Lara's action was criticised by the commentators and former players.

80.

MS Dhoni set a record for effecting the most dismissals in a match by an Indian wicketkeeper until it was broken by Wriddhiman Saha in 2018.

81.

MS Dhoni finished his last innings unbeaten making 24 runs.

82.

On 12 February 2012, MS Dhoni made an unbeaten 44 to guide India to their first win over Australia at Adelaide.

83.

MS Dhoni was named as captain and wicketkeeper of the 'Team of the Tournament' for the 2014 T20 World Cup by the ICC.

84.

MS Dhoni was chosen to lead India in first-ever World T20 in 2007.

85.

MS Dhoni made his captaincy debut against Scotland but the match was washed off.

86.

MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on 15 August 2020.

87.

The decision came as a surprise to many fans and cricket experts, as MS Dhoni had not announced any plans to retire before that.

88.

MS Dhoni had not played any international cricket since India's loss in the 2019 Cricket World Cup semi-final.

89.

MS Dhoni had not announced any plans to retire from domestic cricket, and continues to play for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.

90.

In 2009, BCCI Corporate trophy MS Dhoni scored 106 runs playing for Air India Blue team against 'India Revenue' team.

91.

MS Dhoni was contracted by the Chennai Super Kings for US$1.5 million.

92.

MS Dhoni became the first player to play 200 T20 matches for Super Kings.

93.

MS Dhoni is at the top of the list of most matches played in the Indian Premier League.

94.

MS Dhoni is one of the three captains to have won the Indian Premier League twice, with CSK.

95.

MS Dhoni was arrested with charges of spot-fixing According to Dhoni, it was darkest period of his career.

96.

MS Dhoni said "The biggest crime that I can commit is not a murder, it is actually match-fixing".

97.

MS Dhoni played as wicketkeeper batsman in 2017 season for RPS.

98.

MS Dhoni scored 455 runs in that season and led his side to their third IPL title.

99.

MS Dhoni led the franchise to 4th title in 2021 Indian Premier League season.

100.

MS Dhoni stepped down from captaincy on 24 March 2022, where Ravindra Jadeja became the new captain.

101.

MS Dhoni deviates from conventional coaching manuals and showcases his unique batting technique.

102.

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.

103.

MS Dhoni is known for his unorthodox captaincy and cool-headed demeanor on the field.

104.

MS Dhoni has been renowned for his lightning-fast glove-work behind the stumps.

105.

MS Dhoni is a powerful hitter of the ball and is one of the fastest men in running between the wickets.

106.

MS Dhoni made use of the helicopter shot technique, taught to him by a fellow player and childhood friend Santosh Lal.

107.

MS Dhoni has a world record for the highest number of stumpings by any wicket-keeper.

108.

MS Dhoni used to allow his bowlers to set field for themselves.

109.

MS Dhoni married Sakshi Singh Rawat on 4 July 2010.

110.

MS Dhoni holds the post of vice-president marketing in India Cements Ltd.

111.

MS Dhoni is headed by former BCCI president and IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings owner N Srinivasan.

112.

MS Dhoni is a co-owner, along with Abhishek Bachchan and Vita Dani, of Chennai-based football club Chennaiyin FC, a franchise of the Indian Super League.

113.

MS Dhoni owns the footwear side of the brand and is the brand ambassador of SEVEN.

114.

In 2019, MS Dhoni invested in CARS24 and simultaneously became brand ambassador of the company.

115.

On 11 October 2022, at an event in Bengaluru, MS Dhoni was unveiled as the newest member of a startup.

116.

MS Dhoni has invested in Shaka Harry, a plant-based protein company.

117.

In 2019, MS Dhoni Entertainment entered into a long-term business agreement with Banijay Asia to produce content in various genres.

118.

MS Dhoni holds an honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Indian Territorial Army.