MS Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni ([məˈɦeːnd̪ɾə ˈsɪŋɡʱ ˈd̪ʱoːniː] ; 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 team 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. He 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. He also led the teams that won the Asia Cup in 2010 and 2016, and he was a member of the title winning squad in 2018.

Born in Ranchi, Dhoni made his first class 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 team before taking over in all formats by 2008. Dhoni retired from Test cricket in 2014 but continued playing in limited overs cricket till 2019. He has scored 17,266 runs in international cricket including 10,000 plus runs at an average of more than 50 in ODIs.

In the Indian Premier League (IPL), Dhoni plays for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), leading them to the final on ten occasions and winning it five times (2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023) jointly sharing this record with Rohit Sharma. He has also led CSK to two Champions League T20 titles in 2010 and 2014. 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.

In 2008, Dhoni was awarded India's highest sport honour Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award by Government of India. 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. In June 2025, he was inducted into ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

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 the Almora district of Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand). He was the youngest of three children. His family spells the surname as "Dhauni". The spelling "Dhoni" emerged due to a spelling mistake in his school certificates and, despite repeated attempts by his family, has never been rectified.

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

Youth 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 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, 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 contributed 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 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 became a regular in the Indian team 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.