Bhubaneswar: One of India’s most loved players Mahendra Singh Dhoni or MSD is celebrating his 39th birthday today. Wishes from cricket fraternity and fans alike poured in for the Captain Cool, as he is lovingly called.
The Ranchi-based cricketer-wicketkeeper’s incredible contributions towards the national men’s cricket team and to the game, in general, hold a legacy that is hard to be changed or forgotten.
Here are a few of his achievements:
1: Dhoni is the only Indian captain who has led India to all three major ICC events. From winning the maiden T20 World Cup in 2007 on his captaincy debut to leading India to a World Cup victory on home soil in 2011. In 2013 he also led the team to win the Champions Trophy.
2: MSD has notched up 4,876 runs in 90 matches he played for India in the longest format of the game so far.
3: The wicketkeeper-batsman has amassed 10,773 runs in 350 ODIs and 1,617 runs in 98 T20Is for India since making his debut. He is also the first wicket-keeper from the country to complete 4,000 Test runs. He smashed his highest score of 224 against Australia.
4: Dhoni, whose highest ODI score of 183 came against Sri Lanka in 2005, is also the first Indian and fifth overall to hit 200 sixes in ODIs.
5: With a total of 829 dismissals across the three formats of the game, MSD also tops the list of Indian wicket-takers with most dismissals. Overall, he is standing just behind South Africa’s Mark Boucher (998) and Australia’s Adam Gilchrist (829 dismissals) in the list.
6: Under his captaincy, Dhoni had led India in a total of 199 matches in the 50-over format, guiding the side to 110 wins and 74 defeats.
7: Dhoni was conferred with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports, in 2007. In 2018, he received Padma Bhushan award–India’s third-highest civilian award in India.
8: In the year 2008 and 2009 Dhoni was awarded the ICC Player of the Year trophy and in 2011 CNN-IBN Indian of the Year in Sports.
9: On November 1, 2011, the Indian Territorial Army conferred with honorary rank Lieutenant Colonel to Dhoni after which Dhoni has become the only captain after Kapil Dev to receive this prestigious award.
10: After leading Chennai Super Kings for almost 13 years in IPL and to three title wins. Over the years he has developed a huge fan base in Chennai, which MSD calls his second home. Lovingly called ‘Thala’ here, CSK fans treat him with the utmost respect as whenever Dhoni enters to bat at Chepauk.
MSD was all set to make in a comeback in IPL 2020 which has now been indefinitely postponed due to coronavirus pandemic. He last played for India in 2019 World Cup where India suffered heartbreak defeat in semi-finals to get knocked out. After that, he made himself unavailable for the selection in the Indian team and 2020 IPL was his way towards a comeback in international cricket.