Mahendra Singh Dhoni (/məˈheɪndrə ˈsɪŋ dhæˈnɪ/ ⓘ; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian professional cricketer. He is a right-handed batter and a wicket-keeper. Widely regarded as one of the most prolific wicket-keeper-batsman and captain, 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. Dhoni has captained the most international matches and is the most successful Indian captain with wins in the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 Cricket World Cup, the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and the Asia Cup in 2010, 2016 and 2018. He plays for and captains Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Born in Ranchi, Dhoni made his debut for Bihar in 1999. He 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. In 2007, he became the captain of the ODI side before taking over in all formats by 2008. Dhoni retired from tests in 2014 but continued playing in limited-overs cricket till 2020. He has scored 17,266 runs in international cricket including 10,000 plus runs at an average of more than 50 in ODIs.

Dhoni plays for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, leading them to the final on ten occasions and winning it five times (2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023). He has also led CSK to two Champions League T20 titles in 2010 and 2014. He is amongst 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.

In 2008, Dhoni was awarded India’s highest sports honor, the Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna Award by the Government of Indiaaward. He received the fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri in 2009 and third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan in 2018. 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. He is considered one of the most popular cricketers in the world.

Early life

Dhoni was born on 7 July 1981 in Ranchi, Bihar (now in Jharkhand) in a Hindu Rajput family to Pan Singh and Devaki Devi. His parents hailed from Lwali village in Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand) and he was the youngest of three children. His family spells the surname as “Dhauni”.

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Dhoni did his schooling at 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. From 2001 to 2003, Dhoni worked as a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) at Kharagpur under South Eastern Railway zone of Indian Railways.

Personal life

Dhoni married Sakshi Singh Rawat on 4 July 2010 in Dehradun. Dhoni and his wife have a daughter, Zeeva. He lives in his farmhouse outside Ranchi along with his parents. Dhoni owns a number of bikes and cars in his collection.

MS Dhoni Height Weight Age Body Statistics Biography

Bio/Wiki
Full Name	Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Real Name	Mahendra Singh Dhauni Business Standard
Nickname	Mahi
Names Earned	MSD, MS, Captain Cool
Profession	Cricketer (Wicket-keeper)
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters– 175 cm in meters– 1.75 m in feet inches– 5’ 9”
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms– 75 kg in pounds– 165 lbs
Body Measurements (approx.)	– Chest: 42 inches – Waist: 32 inches – Biceps: 14 inches
Eye Colour	Dark Brown
Hair Colour	Black
Cricket
International Debut	ODI- 23 December 2004 against Bangladesh at Chittagong Test- 2 December 2005 against Sri Lanka at Chennai T20 – 1 December 2006 against South Africa at Johannesburg
Last Match	ODI– 9 July 2019 against New Zealand at Emirates Old Trafford Test– 26 December 2014 against Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground T20– 27 February 2019 against South Africa at The Wanderers Stadium
International Retirement	15 August 2020 CricBuzz
Jersey Number	#7 (India) #7 (IPL)
Domestic/State Team(s)	Asia XI, Bihar, Chennai Super Kings, Jharkhand, Rising Pune Supergiants
Coach/Mentor	Keshav Banerjee and Chanchal Bhattacharya
Batting Style	Right-Handed
Bowling Style	Right-Arm Fast Medium
Favourite Shots	Helicopter Shot and Paddlesweep
Nature on Field	Calm
Likes to play against	Pakistan and Australia
Records (main ones)	• Under his captaincy, Indian team won major tournaments in all 3 formats: the No.1 Test ranking for 18 months (2009-2011), the ODI World Cup in 2011, Champions Trophy in 2013 and the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007. • Most centuries at the position of No.7 in ODIs. • Most 6s in International Cricket as a captain. • Most number of stumpings in International Cricket. • Highest score by a wicket-keeper batsman in ODIs (183 runs). • Won most T20 International matches as a captain. • Most times bowled in International Cricket while playing a match as a wicket-keeper. • Only skipper to score an ODI century while batting at No.7 • First Indian wicket-keeper batsman to score 4,000 Test runs. • Highlight score by an Indian captain in Tests (224 runs). • 3rd skipper ever to have captained in 300+ international matches, after Ricky Ponting (324) and Stephen Fleming (303). • The only skipper to have captained 50+ matches in all 3 formats. • First Indian captain to win a Test series in New Zealand. • In July 2018, he made the record of maximum stumpings in Twenty20 Internationals (33 stumpings in 91 matches).
Career Turning Point	Performance in the 2003/04 tri-nation tournament against Kenya and Pakistan A, where he scored 362 runs in 6 matches at an average of 72.40.
Awards, Honours, Achievements	National Awards • Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2007) • Padma Shri (2009) • Padma Bhushan (2018) Achievements • MTV Youth Icon of the Year (2006) • ICC ODI Player of the Year (2008, 2009) • CNN-IBN Indian of the Year in Sports (2011) • ICC Award for Spirit of Cricket (2011)
Personal Life
Date of Birth	7 July 1981
Age (as of 2023)	42 Years
Birthplace	Ranchi, Jharkhand, (Then in Bihar) India
Zodiac sign	Cancer
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
School	DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, Shyamali, Ranchi, Jharkhand
College/University	St. Xaviers College, Ranchi, Jharkhand
Educational Qualification	College Dropout
Religion	Hinduism
Caste	Khas Rajput Business Standard
Food Habit	Non-Vegetarian
Address	Harmu Housing Colony, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
Hobbies	Biking, Playing Football and Tennis, Swimming
Controversies	• In 2007, 40 residents of his locality filed a plea against the Ranchi Regional Development Authority (RRDA) for wasting 15,000 litres of water in M.S. Dhoni’s home in daily maintenance of the swimming pool. At that time, his locality was going through a severe water crisis. India Times • He was involved in a tax evasion controversy over his Hummer H2, as the vehicle needed a registration charge of ₹4 lakhs in India, but it was mistakenly registered as a Mahindra Scorpio, the charge of registering which is ₹53,000. Indian Express • During the 2013 IPL spot-fixing, Dhoni was on the radar of the Supreme Court. He was in the contact with Gurunath Meiyappan, who was named in betting charge sheet. Later, Dhoni called Gurunath Meiyappan, a “mere cricket enthusiast.” However, Meiyappan was a full-fledged team owner. Hindustan Times • In 2016, he resigned as the brand ambassador of Amrapali real estate group after the residents from one of the Amrapali units carried a social media campaign after facing logistical issues in the society. • In November 2022, he moved a contempt petition at the Madras High Court against IPS officer G Sampath Kumar for Kumar’s remarks while he was investigating the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing and betting scandal of 2013. India Today On 15 December 2023, Kumar was sentenced to 15 days imprisonment by the Madras High Court; the execution of the punishment was delayed for 30 days by the bench, including Justices S S Sundar and Sunder Mohan, to provide Kumar time for an appeal. Mint
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Priyanka Jha (died in 2002) Lakshmi Rai (South Indian actress) Sakshi Singh Rawat (Sakshi Dhoni)
Marriage Date	4 July 2010
Family
Wife/Spouse	Sakshi Dhoni
Children	Daughter– Ziva Son– None
Parents	Father– Pan Singh (MECON employee; worked at Junior Management position) Mother– Devki Devi
Siblings	Brother– Narendra Singh Dhoni (Elder, Politician) Sister– Jayanti Gupta (Elder)
Favourites
Cricketer(s)	Batsmen : Sachin Tendulkar, Adam Gilchrist Bowlers : Glenn McGrath, Brett Lee
Cricket Ground(s)	Lord’s Cricket Ground, London Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Melbourne
Food	Chicken Butter Masala, Chicken Tikka Pizza, Kebabs, Yellow Dal, Sonpapdi, Gulab Jamun and Rasgullas
Football Player	Cristiano Ronaldo
Tennis Player	Rafael Nadal
Actor(s)	Amitabh Bachchan, John Abraham
Actresses	Angelina Jolie, Deepika Padukone
Film(s)	Agneepath, Sholay
Musician	Kishore Kumar
Colour(s)	Blue and Black
Travel Destination(s)	Sri Lanka, Goa
Style Quotient
Cars Collection	• Open Mahindra Scorpio • Maruti SX4 • Toyota Corolla • Land Rover Freelander • GMC Sierra • Mitsubishi Pajero Sfx • Mitsubishi Out Lander • Porsche 911 • Audi Q7 SUV • Ferrari 599 • Jeep Grand Cherokee • Pontiac Firebird Trans Am • Hummer H2 • Mercedes-AMG G 63 (bought in November 2023) Note: In December 2021, he added a 1971 vintage Land Rover 3 to his garage after participating in an auction held by Big Boy Toyz. Hindustan Times His collection of vintage cars includes Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow and a 1969 Ford Mustang Fastback.
Bikes Collection	Kawasaki Ninja H2, Confederate Hellcat, BSA, Suzuki Hayabusa, a Norton Vintage, Hero Karizma ZMR, Yamaha Rxz, Yamaha Thundercat, Yamaha Rx, Ducati 1098, Yamaha Rd 350, Tvs Apache, Kawasaki zx14r Ninja, Confederate Hellcat X 132, Harley Davidson Fat boy, Enfield Machismo, Customized Tvs Dirt bike, TVS Ronin (bought in February 2023) The Times of India
Money Factor
Salary (approx.)	Rs. 12 Crore (IPL 2023) Outlook
Net Worth (approx.)	Rs 1,040 crore (as of July 2023) Outlook

Early career

He played as a wicket-keeper for Commando cricket club from 1995 to 1998 and Central Coal Fields Limited (CCL) team in 1998. At CCL, he batted higher up the order and helped the team qualify to the higher division. Based on his performance at club cricket, he was picked for the 1997/98 season of Vinoo Mankad Trophy under-16 championship. In the 1998–99, Dhoni played for Bihar U-19 team in the Cooch Behar Trophy and scored 176 runs in 5 matches. In the 1999–2000 Cooch Behar Trophy, the Bihar U-19 cricket team made it to the finals, where Dhoni made 84 in a losing cause. Dhoni’s contribution in the tournament included 488 runs in nine matches with five fifties, 17 catches and seven stumpings. Dhoni made it to the East Zone U-19 squad for the C. K. Nayudu Trophy in the 1999–2000 season and scored only 97 runs in four matches, as East Zone lost all the matches and finished last in the tournament.

Dhoni made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar against Assam in the 1999–2000 season, as an eighteen-year-old scoring 68 runs in the second innings. Dhoni finished the season with 283 runs in 5 matches. Dhoni scored his maiden first-class century while playing for Bihar against Bengal in the 2000–01 Ranji Trophy season. Apart from this century, his performance in the 2000/01 season did not include another score over fifty and in the 2001–02 Ranji Trophy season, he scored just five fifties in four Ranji matches. Dhoni’s played for Jharkhand in the 2002–03 Ranji Trophy and represented East Zone in the Deodhar Trophy where he started gaining recognition for his lower-order contribution as well as hard-hitting batting style. In the 2003/04 season, Dhoni scored a century (128*) against Assam in the first match of the Ranji ODI tournament and was part of the East Zone squad that won the Deodhar Trophy 2003–2004 season scoring 244 runs in four matches.

In the Duleep Trophy finals, Dhoni represented East zone and scored a fighting half-century in the second innings in a losing cause. Dhoni was identified as one of the emerging talents via the BCCI’s small-town talent-spotting initiative TRDW. In 2004, Dhoni was picked for the India A squad for a tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya. Against the Zimbabwe XI in Harare Sports Club, Dhoni effected seven catches and four stumpings. In the tri-nation tournament involving Kenya, India A and Pakistan A, Dhoni helped India A chase down their target of 223 against Pakistan A with a half-century and scored scored 362 runs in six innings at an average of 72.40 with back to back centuries.

International career

Debut and early years
The Indian ODI team in the early 2000s saw Rahul Dravid as the wicket-keeper to ensure that the wicket-keeper spot didn’t lack in batting talent and also tried other wicket-keeper/batsmen like Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik. With Dhoni performing well for the India A squad, he was picked in the ODI squad for the Bangladesh tour in December 2004. Dhoni made his debut in the first match of the series and was run out for a duck. Dhoni was picked for the subsequent ODI series against Pakistan. In the second match of the series in Visakhapatnam, Dhoni playing in his fifth one-day international, scored 148 runs off 123 deliveries which surpassed the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicket-keeper. Dhoni played in the Sri Lankan bilateral ODI series in October–November 2005 and was promoted to No. 3 in the batting order in the third ODI at Jaipur where he scored an unbeaten 183 runs off 145 balls, winning the game for India. The innings would surpass his earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicket-keeper and was described in Wisden Almanack as ‘Uninhibited, yet anything but crude’. It was also the highest individual score in ODI cricket in a run chase, a record which was broken seven years later by Shane Watson. Dhoni ended the series with the highest aggregate of 346 runs and was awarded the Man of the series.

Dhoni keeping wickets in a test match
Dhoni became a regular in the Indian side after the home series against South Africa in November 2005. In December 2005, Dhoni was awarded a “B” grade contract by the BCCI. Dhoni made his test debut in the same month against Sri Lanka during their tour of India at Chennai. Dhoni scored 30 runs in his debut match, that was marred by rain and ended in a draw. Dhoni made his maiden half-century in the second test leading to an Indian win. 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. He scored 106 runs across three tests in the home series against England in March 2006 and 177 runs in five ODI series that followed. Dhoni dropped multiple catches and missed dismissal chances including a key stumping opportunity of Andrew Flintoff which led to criticism of his wicket-keeping.

In the DLF Cup 2006-07, Dhoni scored 43 runs as the team lost twice in three games and did not qualify for the finals. In the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy, India lost to West Indies and Australia, though Dhoni scored a half-century against West Indies and failed to make it to the knock out stage. In the ODI series in South Africa in November 2006, Dhoni scored 139 runs in four matches in the series loss. In the test series that followed, Dhoni scored 114 runs in two tests including a first test victory in South Africa in the first test, but was ruled out of the third test with injury. Dhoni made his T20 international debut in December 2006 against South Africa at Johannesburg. Dhoni was subsequently named in the ODI team of the year by the ICC for 2006.

2007 World T20 and captaincy
India recorded identical 3–1 victories over West Indies and Sri Lanka in early 2007 with Dhoni averaging in excess of 100 in both the series. Subsequently, 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 Dhoni scoring ducks in both these matches and just 29 runs in the tournament. As a result, Dhoni’s house in Ranchi was vandalized and damaged by activists of JMM and security was tightened for his family. 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 also later winning the Man of the Series after the third game of the series was washed away. 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.

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. Dhoni was awarded an ‘A’ grade contract by BCCI in June 2007. Dhoni was appointed as the captain of the Indian squad for the inaugural World Twenty20 in September 2007. Dhoni led India to victory in the tournament after defeating Pakistan in the final. Dhoni was appointed as the captain of Indian cricket team in all formats later.

On 2 September 2007, Dhoni equaled Adam Gilchrist’s international record for the most dismissals in an innings in ODI by effecting six dismissals against England. 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. However, he scored just three runs in the only match he batted with India crashing out of the series in the group stage after the match against Australia was washed out. Dhoni averaged more than 60 in the 2008-09 season. 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. 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. He was named as captain and wicket-keeper of the ICC ODI Team of the year.

2011 World Cup win and later

Dhoni batting against South Africa during the group stage match of 2013 ICC Champions Trophy
Dhoni led the Indian squad for the 2011 Cricket World Cup co-hosted by India. India won its second ever ODI world cup after defeating Sri lanka in the final with Dhoni being named man of the match for scoring an unbeaten 91. In December 2012, Pakistan toured India for a bilateral series for the first time in five years and Dhoni top-scored in all the three matches of the series with a century in the first ODI at Chennai. 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. In the rain-shortened final against England, India won by five runs on DLS method though Dhoni himself was out for a duck. He was also named as captain and wicket-keeper of the ‘Team of the Tournament’ by the ICC.

After the Champions Trophy, India toured West Indies for a tri-nation tournament against the hosts and Sri Lanka. 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. In November 2013, Dhoni became the second India batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to aggregate more than thousand runs in ODIs against Australia. India toured South Africa and New Zealand in the 2013–14 season. Though Dhoni scored 84 runs at an average of 48 including one half-century against South Africa and 272 runs with three consecutive 50-plus scores against New Zealand, India lost both the series. Dhoni himself reached 8000 runs in ODI in the series against New Zealand. Dhoni led India in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 where India finished as runners-up after losing to Sri Lanka in the final. He was named as captain and wicket-keeper of the ‘Team of the Tournament’ by the ICC.

India won the away ODI series in England in 2014 and series against West Indies in India where Dhoni scored 146 runs across the five innings he batted.

Test retirement and 2015 World cup
Dhoni played his last series during India’s tour of Australia in December 2014. Following the third Test in Melbourne, Dhoni announced his retirement from the format. In his last test, he effected nine dismissals (eight catches and a stumping), and in the process, went past Kumar Sangakkara’s record for most stumpings in international cricket and also set a record for effecting the most dismissals in a match by an Indian wicketkeeper until it was broken by Wriddhiman Saha in 2018. In the Carlton Mid triangular series in Australia, India failed to win a single match with Dhoni himself managing just 70 runs from three innings at an average of 23.34.

During the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Dhoni became the first Indian captain to win all group stage matches in a world cup. In the match against Zimbabwe at Auckland, he made 85 which was the highest score by an Indian captain in New Zealand. After beating Bangladesh in the quarter finals, he became the third overall and the first non-Australian captain to win 100 ODI matches. India lost to eventual champions Australia in the semi-finals with 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.

Final years and retirement
Dhoni led India to victory in the 2016 Asia Cup where India remained unbeaten. Dhoni stepped down as captain of India in January 2017 ahead of the ODI series at home against England. In the second game of the series, he scored 134 off 122 balls, his tenth century in ODIs and his first in over three years. He 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. In August 2017, during the fifth and final ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo, he became the first wicket-keeper to effect 100 stumpings in ODIs when he stumped Akila Dananjaya off Yuzvendra Chahal. He 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.

Though he had a relatively mediocre series scoring 79 runs in two innings at a strike rate of 63.20 during India’s 2018 tour of England, he went past 10,000 ODI runs, becoming the fourth Indian and twelfth overall to do so. In the 2018 Asia Cup title winning campaign, he scored just 77 runs in four innings at an average of 19.25. While captaining in the group stage match against Afghanistan due to regular captain Rohit Sharma being unavailable, Dhoni became the first cricketer to lead India 200 times in ODIs. Dhoni aggregated 50 runs from three innings in the home series against West Indies. Dhoni was not selected for the T20I squad for the series that followed and the Australia tour later that season. However, he was included in the squad for the ODI series in Australia. In the three-match series, Dhoni scored half-centuries in all three games with the latter two resulting in wins, helping India secure a 2–1 series victory, their first in a bilateral series on Australian soil and was named player of the series while also becoming the fourth Indian to score more than 1,000 ODI runs in Australia. In April 2019, he was named in India’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. On 9 July 2019, Dhoni played in his 350th and final ODI in the semi-final loss against New Zealand. 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.

Domestic career

Dhoni made his debut in first class and List A cricket in the 1999–2000 season for Bihar. He has also played for Rajasthan Cricket Association President’s XI, East zone and Rest of India in domestic cricket. In BCCI Corporate trophy, he played for Air India until his resignation from the company in 2013. In February 2005, Dhoni played for India seniors in Challenger trophy, where he scored 102 against India B. Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) appointed him captain of the Jharkhand team in February 2017 for the 2017-18 Vijay Hazare trophy and on 25 February 2017, he scored his first ever domestic list-A century against Chhattisgarh and led the team to the quarter final where Jharkhand lost against Delhi.

Indian Premier League

Dhoni was acquired by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for US$1.5 million during the auction for the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was the most expensive signing in the auction. Dhoni scored 414 runs to lead CSK to the finals in the first season of IPL. Under his captaincy, CSK won the 2010 season and qualified for Champions League Twenty20. Chennai won the 2010 Champions league. Dhoni scored 392 runs and led CSK to its second consecutive IPL title in 2011. Dhoni led CSK to its second Champions League Twenty20 title in 2014. Dhoni scored 2987 runs from 129 matches in the IPL across the first eight seasons for the Super Kings.

Following the two-year suspension of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, two new franchises Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions were established for the 2016 Indian Premier League season. Supergiants picked Dhoni as one of their five draft picks on 15 December 2015 for ₹125 million (US$1.6 million). He scored 574 runs in 30 matches across two seasons for the Supergiants.

Dhoni returned to Chennai Super Kings for the 2018 season. Dhoni scored 455 runs in the season and led CSK to its third IPL title. Dhoni led CSK to the title again in 2021 and was retained by CSK for ₹12 crore (US$1.5 million) before the auction for 2022 season. He stepped down from the captaincy of CSK on 24 March 2022 and Ravindra Jadeja was appointed as the new captain. However, on 30 April 2022, Jadeja handed over the captaincy back to Dhoni in the middle of the season. Dhoni led the franchise to victory in the 2023 IPL season. Under his captaincy, CSK became the most successful IPL franchise with five title wins and ten final appearances. MS Dhoni became the first player to play 200 T20 matches for Super Kings and holds the record for most appearances in the IPL.

Playing style

Dhoni is a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper. Dhoni is an unorthodox batsman who deviates from conventional coaching manuals to showcase his batting technique. Dhoni displays a proclivity for hitting full-length deliveries towards the Long-on, Long-off, and Midwicket regions, rather than the conventional Cover region. He plays pull shots and hook shots off short-pitched deliveries often putting pressure on the bowler to adjust their line and length accordingly. 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. He is a powerful hitter of the ball and is one of the fastest men in running between the wickets. He plays the helicopter shot technique, taught to him by a fellow player and childhood friend Santosh Lal. As a batsman, he is recognized for his finishing skills in high-pressure situations.

He has also been praised for his lightning-fast glove-work behind the stumps while also being criticized for the lack of good technique. He is known for his unorthodox captaincy, approachability and has earned a reputation of being a successful leader. Dhoni is also known for his cool-headed demeanor on the field which has earned him the monicker “Captain cool”.

Career statistics

Dhoni has scored 4876 runs in Test matches at an average of 38 and 10773 runs at an average of above 50 in ODIs. He has scored 16 centuries and 106 fifties in his international career. Dhoni has one of the highest averages in ODI cricket. Dhoni has scored more than 3200 runs across 377 T20 matches. 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.

	Mat	Runs	Best	Bat Avg.	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Catches	Stumpings
Home	127	4351	183*	53.71	91.60	7	25	350	116	99	48
Away	145	4520	101*	50.78	83.98	1	37	324	73	126	46
Neutral	78	1902	139*	44.23	87.60	2	11	152	40	96	29
Total	350	10773	183*	50.57	87.56	10	78	826	229	321	123

Captaincy

In 2007, Dhoni was appointed captain of the captain of the Indian team and served as the captain of all formats from 2008. He captained the Indian team in 332 matches including 200 ODIs and was one of the most prolific and successful captains of all time.

Type	Matches	Won	Lost	Drawn	Tied	No result
Test	60	27	18	15	–	–
ODI	200	110	74	–	5	11
T20I	72	41	28	–	1	2

Records and achievements

Tests

• Most runs by an Indian wicket-keeper (4876)
• Most number of sixes by an Indian captain (78)
• Most dismissals by an Indian and fifth most by any wicket-keeper (294) 

ODIs

• Most wins by an Indian captain and second most overall (110)
• Second most runs as captain (6641)
• Third most number of matches as captain (200)
• First player to pass 10,000 runs with an average of over 50
• Most not-outs (84)
• Highest score by a wicket-keeper (183*)
• Highest eighth wicket partnership for India (100* with Bhuvneshwar Kumar)
• Most dismissals in an innings (6) and career (432) by an Indian wicket-keeper
• Most stumpings by any wicket-keeper (123)

T20Is

• Second most matches as captain (72)
• Most T20I innings (76) and runs (1,153) before scoring a fifty
• Most stumpings as wicket-keeper (34)
• Most catches as wicket keeper in a T20I innings (5)

Combined

• Most international matches as captain (332)
• Most stumpings (195) and only wicket-keeper to make 150 stumpings
• Third most dismissals as a wicket-keeper (829)
• Sixth most sixes in career (359)