Mahendra Singh Dhoni commonly known as M. S. Dhoni; born 7
July 1981) is an Indian cricketer and the
current captain of
the Indian
national cricket team in limited-overs formats. An attacking
right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper, he is widely regarded as one of
the greatest finishers in limited-overs cricket.[1][2][3][4]He made his One Day International (ODI)
debut in December 2004 against Bangladesh,
and played his first Test a year
later against Sri Lanka.
Dhoni holds numerous captaincy records such as most wins
by an Indian captain in Tests and ODIs, and most back-to-back wins by an Indian
captain in ODIs. He took over the ODI captaincy from Rahul Dravid in 2007 and led the team to
its first-ever bilateral ODI series wins in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Under
his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World
Twenty20, the CB Series of 2007–08, the 2010 Asia Cup, the 2011 ICC Cricket
World Cup and the 2013 ICC
Champions Trophy. In the final of the 2011 World Cup, Dhoni scored
91 not out off 79 balls to take India to victory for which he was awarded the
Man of the Match. In June 2013, when India defeated England in the final of the
Champions Trophy in England, Dhoni became the first captain to win all three
ICC limited-overs trophies (World Cup, Champions Trophy and the World
Twenty20). After taking up the Test captaincy in 2008, he led the team to
series wins in New Zealand and West Indies, and the Border-Gavaskar
Trophy in 2008, 2010 and 2013. In 2009, Dhoni also led the
Indian team to number one position for the first time in the ICC Test rankings.
In 2013, under his captaincy, India became the first team in more than 40 years
to whitewash Australia
in a Test series. In the Indian Premier League,
he captained the Chennai Super Kings to
victory at the 2010 and 2011 seasons,
along with wins in the 2010 and 2014 editions
of Champions League
Twenty20. He announced his retirement from Tests on 30 December
2014.[5]
Dhoni holds the post of Vice-President of India Cements Ltd., after resigning from Air India. India Cements is the owner of the
IPL team Chennai Super Kings, and Dhoni has been its captain since the first
IPL season.[6][7] Dhoni is the co-owner of Indian Super League team Chennaiyin FC.[8]
Dhoni has been the recipient of many awards, including
the ICC ODI Player
of the Year award in 2008 and 2009 (the first player to win the
award twice), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel
Ratnaaward in 2007 and the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian
honour, in 2009.[9] He was named as the captain of ICC World Test XI
and ICC World ODI XI teams for 2009. The Indian Territorial Army conferred
the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel[10] to Dhoni on 1 November 2011. He is the second
Indian cricketer after Kapil Dev to have
received this honour. In 2011, Time magazine included Dhoni in its
annual Time 100 list as one of the "Most
Influential People in the World."[11] In 2012, SportsPro rated Dhoni as the sixteenth
most marketable athlete in the world.[12] In June 2015, Forbes ranked Dhoni at 23rd in
the list
of highest paid athletes in the world, estimating his earnings
at US$31 million.[13]
