Mahendra Singh Dhoni (born 7 July 1981) is an Indian professional cricketer who plays as a right handed batter and a wicket-keeper. Widely regarded as one of the most prolific wicket-keeper-batsmen and captains, he represented the Indian cricket team and was the captain of the side in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in test cricket from 2008 to 2014.
Read MoreDhoni's performances in ODIs against Sri Lanka opened the doors for Test Cricket for him. Dhoni replaced Dinesh Karthik in December 2005 and was the last man standing in his 30-run journey in his debut test innings. Dhoni went on to score his maiden half-century in the second Test. He was very aggressive with it too, as the half-century came off 51 balls. We witnessed Dhoni in making who was soon going to lead India to the number 1 spot in Tests. He scored a double century against Australia in Chennai in 2013 and is the first and only Indian wicketkeeper to score a double ton in Tests. Dhoni announced a shock retirement from Tests on December 30, 2014, amidst the Test series in Australia as Virat Kohli took over the reins.
Dhoni was selected for India's first-ever Twenty20 international match. The match was played against South Africa in December 2006. Although Dhoni was out for a duck, he contributed to India's victory with one catch and a runout. The very next year, MS Dhoni was chosen to lead a young Indian team, in the first-ever World T20 in 2007. On September 24, 2007, Dhoni became the second Indian captain to have won a World Cup in any format of cricket, after Kapil Dev. However, Dhoni went on to lead India in another five T20 World Cups, having reached the semi-final and final once each thereafter. Dhoni scored his maiden T20I fifty in a bilateral series against England in Bengaluru in 2017, and played his last T20I match against Australia in 2019.
MS Dhoni is India's only two-time World Cup-winning captain, achieving victory in different formats, and is considered one of the greatest skippers of all time. He led a young Indian team to the first-ever T20 World Cup victory in South Africa in 2007. Dhoni then led India to their second ODI World Cup victory in 2011. He was also awarded man of the match in the finals against Sri Lanka for his score of an unbeaten 91. The bat which was used by Dhoni in the final match was auctioned for a whopping ₹ 72 Lac. The entire sum of money went to Sakshi Rawat Foundation which was operated by Dhoni's wife Sakshi Rawat to help orphan children. Dhoni also led India to the 2013 Champions Trophy title in England, making him the only captain to win all major ICC titles.
There is no CSK without Dhoni and there is no Dhoni without CSK. These were the words of N Srinivasan, the former BCCI chief and ICC president, who also has stakes in the franchise. MS Dhoni is an iconic cricketer who has had a massive impact in building the brand CSK as the keeper-batter was purchased by the franchise for a whopping INR 6 crores approximately, the then-highest bid for a player.
| Awards | Year |
|---|---|
| ICC World ODI XI | 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 |
| Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award | 2008 |
| ICC ODI Player of the Year | 2008, 2009 |
| Padma Shri | 2009 |
| Padma Bhushan | 2018 |
| ICC ODI Team of the Decade | 2020 |
| ICC T20I Team of the Decade | 2020 |
| ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade | 2020 |