MS Dhoni

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Profile Overview of MS Dhoni

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 team in limited overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. Dhoni has captained the most number of 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 was a member of the title-winning squad in 2018.

This profile of MS Dhoni covers Early Life and Family Background, Youth Career, 2007 World T20 and captaincy and 2011 World Cup win and later.

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 as captain in all formats by 2008. Dhoni retired from Test cricket in 2014 but continued playing in limited overs cricket until 2019. He has scored 17,266 runs in international cricket, including 10,773 runs at an average of more than 50 in ODIs.

In the Indian Premier League (IPL), Dhoni plays for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), leading them to the finals on ten occasions and winning the title five times (2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, and 2023)– a record he jointly shares 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 sporting honour, the Khel Ratna Award, by the Government of India. He received the fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, in 2009 and third highest civilian award, the 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 the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.

Early Life and Family Background of MS Dhoni

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 of MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni 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.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Dhoni), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.