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Mahendra Singh Dhoni ( pronunciation (help·info)) (born 7 July 1981), commonly known as M. S. Dhoni, is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian national cricket team and the Chennai Super Kings. He is an attacking right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper. 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 is the captain of India in all three forms of the game. His Test and ODI records are the best among all Indian captains to date. 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 and the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. In the final of the 2011 World Cup, he scored 91 not out of just 79 balls to take India to victory for which he was awarded the Man of the Match. 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. He has also captained the Chennai Super Kings to victory in the 2010 and 2011 seasons of Indian Premier League along with the 2010 Champions League Twenty20.

Dhoni also 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 edition of IPL.^[2]^[3]

Dhoni has also been the recipient of many awards including the ICC ODI Player of the Year award in 2008 and 2009 (the first Indian player to achieve this feat), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2007 and the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour, in 2009. He was named as the captain of ICC World Test XI and ICC World ODI XI teams for 2009. In 2009, Dhoni topped the list of world’s top 10 earning cricketers compiled by Forbes.^[4] In June 2013, Forbes ranked Dhoni at 16th in the list of highest paid athletes in the world, estimating his earnings at $31.5 million.^[5]^[6]^[7] The TIME magazine has added Dhoni in its "Time 100" list of 100 most influential people of 2011.^[8] SportsPro has rated Dhoni as the 16th most remarkable athlete in the world.^[9]

Early life and background

Dhoni was born in Ranchi, Bihar (now in Jharkhand),^[10] and he identifies as being a Rajput.^[11] His paternal village Lvali is in the Lamgarha block of the Almora District of Uttarakhand. Dhoni's parents, moved from Uttarakhand to Ranchi where Pan Singh worked in junior management positions in MECON. Dhoni has a sister Jayanti Gupta and a brother Narendra Singh Dhoni.^[12]^[13] Dhoni is a fan of Adam Gilchrist, and his childhood idols were cricket teammate Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan and singer Lata Mangeshkar^[14]^[15]

Dhoni studied at DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, Shyamali,(now the school is known as JVM, Shyamli, Ranchi) Ranchi, Jharkhand where he initially excelled in badminton and football and was selected at district and club level in these sports. Dhoni was a goalkeeper for his football team and was sent to play cricket for a local cricket club by his football coach. Though he had not played cricket, Dhoni impressed with his wicket-keeping skills and became the regular wicketkeeper at the Commando cricket club (1995–1998). Based on his performance at club cricket, he was picked for the 1997/98 season Vinoo Mankad Trophy Under-16 Championship and he performed well.^[13] Dhoni focused on cricket after his 10th standard.^[16] Dhoni was a Train Ticket Examiner (TTE) at Kharagpur railway station from 2001 to 2003, under South Eastern Railway in Midnapore (W), a district in West Bengal. His colleagues remember him as a very honest, straightforward employee of the Indian Railways. But he also had a mischievous side to his personality. Once, while staying at the railway quarters, Dhoni and a couple of his friends covered themselves in white bedsheets and walked around in the complex late in the night. The night guards were fooled into believing that there were ghosts moving around in the complex. The story made big news on the next day.^[17]^[18]^[19]

Personal life

Sakshi Singh Rawat, Dhoni's wife

Dhoni married Sakshi Singh Rawat, a native of Dehradun, Uttarakhand, on 4 July 2010. At the time of their marriage, she was studying Hotel Management and was working as a trainee at the Taj Bengal, Kolkata. After the retirement of Sakshi’s father from tea gardens, their family shifted to their native place, Dehradun.

The wedding stumped the media and the fans as it took place only a day after the couple got engaged.^[20]^[21] Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu, a close friend of Dhoni, was quick to inform the media that the wedding was planned for months and was not a spur of the moment decision.^[22]

Playing style

Dhoni is a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper. Dhoni is among the wicket-keepers who have come through the ranks of junior and India A cricket teams to represent the national team. Parthiv Patel, Ajay Ratra and Dinesh Karthik also followed this route.

Dhoni tends to play mostly from the back foot with a pronounced bottom hand grip. He has a very high bat speed through the ball which often results in the ball racing across the ground. From this initial stance his feet do not show much movement which sometimes results in chasing balls while not coming to the pitch of the ball or some deliveries catching the inside edge.

Early career

Junior cricket in Bihar

Dhoni was included in the Bihar U-19 squad for the 1998-99 season and scored 176 runs in 5 matches (7 innings) as the team finished fourth in the group of six and did not make it to the quarter-finals. Dhoni was not picked for the East Zone U-19 squad (CK Nayudu Trophy) or Rest of India squad (MA Chidambaram Trophy and Vinoo Mankad Trophy). Bihar U-19 cricket team advanced to the finals of the 1999–2000 Cooch Behar Trophy where Dhoni made 84 to help Bihar post a total of 357. Bihar's efforts were dwarfed by Punjab U-19s' 839 with Dhoni's future national squad teammate Yuvraj Singh making 358.^[23] Dhoni's contribution in the tournament included 488 runs (9 matches, 12 innings), 5 fifties, 17 catches and 7 stumpings.^[24] Dhoni made it to the East Zone U-19 squad for the CK Nayudu trophy but scored only 97 runs in four matches as East Zone lost all four matches and finished last in the tournament.

Bihar cricket team

Dhoni made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar in the 1999–2000 season as an eighteen-year-old. He made a half century in his debut match scoring 68* in the second innings against Assam cricket team.^[25] 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 season in a losing cause.^[26] Apart from the century, his performance in the 2000/01^[27] did not include another score over fifty and in 2001/02 season he scored just five fifty in each season in four Ranji matches.^[28]

Jharkhand cricket team

Dhoni's performance in the 2002-03 season included three half-centuries in the Ranji Trophy and a couple of half-centuries in the Deodhar Trophy as 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. He was part of the East Zone squad that won the Deodhar Trophy that year and contributed with 244 runs in 4 matches. In the Duleep Trophy finals, Dhoni was picked over international cricketer Deep Dasgupta to represent East Zone.^[29] He scored a fighting half-century in the second innings in a losing cause.^[30]

Dhoni's talent was discovered via the BCCI's small-town talent-spotting initiative TRDW. Dhoni was discovered by TRDO PC Podar, captain of Bengal in the 1960s, when he saw Dhoni play for Jharkhand at a match in Jamshedpur in 2003, and sent a report to the National Cricket Academy.^[31]

India A team

He was recognised for his efforts in the 2003-04 season, especially in the ODI format and was picked for the India A squad for a tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya.^[32] Against the Zimbabwe XI in Harare Sports Club, Dhoni had his best wicket-keeping effort with 7 catches and 4 stumpings in the match.^[33] 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.^[34] Continuing his good performance, he scored back to back centuries – 120^[35] and 119*^[36] – against the same team. Dhoni scored 362 runs in 6 innings at an average of 72.40 and his performance in the series received attention from the then Indian captain – Sourav Ganguly^[37] and Ravi Shastri amongst others. However, the India A team coach Sandeep Patil recommended Dinesh Karthik for a place in the Indian squad as wicket-keeper/batsman.^[38]

ODI career

ODI Career of Dhoni. Brown line indicates 10 match average while the orange line indicates career average progression.

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.^[37] The team also saw the entry of wicket-keeper/batsmen from the junior ranks with talents like Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik (both India U-19 captains) named in the Test squads.^[37] With Dhoni making a mark in the India A squad, he was picked in the ODI squad for the Bangladesh tour in 2004/05.^[39] Dhoni did not have a great start to his ODI career, getting run out for a duck on debut.^[40] In spite of an average series against Bangladesh, Dhoni was picked for the Pakistan ODI series.^[41] In the second match of the series, Dhoni, in his fifth one-day international, scored 148 in Vishakapatnam off only 123 deliveries. Dhoni's 148 surpassed the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicket-keeper,^[42] a record that he would re-write before the end of the year.

Dhoni had few batting opportunities in the first two games of the Sri Lankan bilateral ODI series (October–November 2005) and was promoted to No. 3 in the third ODI at Sawai Mansingh Stadium (Jaipur). Sri Lanka had set India a target of 299 after a Kumar Sangakkara century and, in reply, India lost Tendulkar early. Dhoni was promoted to accelerate the scoring and ended the game with an unbeaten 183 off 145 balls, winning the game for India.^[43] The innings was described in Wisden Almanack (2006) as 'Uninhibited, yet anything but crude'.^[44] The innings set various records including the highest individual score in ODI cricket in the second innings,^[45] a record that still stands. Dhoni ended the series with the highest run aggregate (346)^[46] and was awarded the Man of the Series award for his efforts. In December 2005, Dhoni was rewarded a B-grade contract by the BCCI.^[47]

Dhoni bowling in the nets. He rarely bowls at international level.

India scored 328 in 50 overs with Dhoni contributing 68 in their first match of 2006 against Pakistan. However, the team finished poorly scoring just 43 runs in the last eight overs and lost the match due to Duckworth-Lewis method.^[48] In the third match of the series, Dhoni came in with India in a precarious situation and scored 72 runs off just 46 balls that included 13 boundaries to help India take a 2–1 lead in the series.^[49]^[50] The final match of the series had a repeat performance as Dhoni scored 77 runs off 56 balls to enable India win the series 4–1.^[51] Due to his consistent ODI performances, Dhoni overtook Ricky Ponting as number one in the ICC ODI Rankings for batsmen on 20 April 2006.^[52] His reign lasted just a week as Adam Gilchrist's performance against Bangladesh moved him to the top spot.^[53]

Two cancelled series in Sri Lanka, one due to the withdrawal of South Africa from the Unitech Cup due to security concerns^[54] and the replacement three-match ODI bilateral series against Sri Lanka washed due to rain,^[55] was India's prelude to another disappointing tournament – DLF Cup 2006-07. Dhoni scored 43 runs as the team lost twice in three games and did not qualify for the finals. India's lack of preparation showed in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy as they lost to West Indies and Australia, though Dhoni scored a half-century against West Indies. The story of the ODI series in South Africa was the same for both Dhoni and India as Dhoni scored 139 runs in 4 matches and India lost the series 4–0. From the start of the West Indies ODI series, Dhoni had played 16 matches, hit just two fifties and averaged 25.93. Dhoni received criticism on his wicket-keeping technique from former wicket-keeper Syed Kirmani.^[56]

Preparations for the 2007 Cricket World Cup improved as India recorded identical 3–1 victories over West Indies and Sri Lanka and Dhoni had averages in excess of 100 in both these series. However, India unexpectedly crashed out the World Cup after losses to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the group stage. Dhoni was out for a duck in both these matches and scored just 29 runs in the tournament. After the loss to Bangladesh in 2007 Cricket World Cup, the house that Dhoni was constructing in his home-town Ranchi was vandalised and damaged by political activists of JMM.^[57] The local police arranged for security for his family as India exited the World Cup in the first round.^[58]

Dhoni put his disappointing performances in the World Cup behind him by scoring 91* against Bangladesh after India were left in a tight spot earlier in the run-chase. Dhoni was declared the Man of the Match for his performance, his fourth in ODI cricket. He was also later adjudged the Man of the Series after the third game of the series was washed away. Dhoni had a good Afro-Asia Cup, scoring 174 runs in 3 matches at an average of 87.00, with a blitzkrieg 139 not out of 97 balls, a Man of the Match innings, in the third ODI.

Dhoni was named vice-captain of the ODI team for the series against South Africa in Ireland and the subsequent India-England seven-match ODI series.^[59] Dhoni, who received a 'B' grade contract in December 2005, was awarded an 'A' grade contract in June 2007. And also he was elected as captain of the Indian squad for the World Twenty20 in September 2007. On 2 September 2007, Dhoni equaled his idol Adam Gilchrist's international record for the most dismissals in an innings in ODI by catching five English players and stumping one.^[60] He led India to the ICC World Twenty 20 trophy in South Africa with a victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in an intensely fought final on 24 September 2007, and became the second Indian captain to have won a World Cup in any form of cricket, after Kapil Dev. During the series between India and Australia, Dhoni hit an aggressive 124 runs in just 107 balls, in the second ODI, and a measured knock of 71 runs in 95 balls, along with Yuvraj Singh, saw India home by 6 wickets, in the third ODI. Dhoni took his first wicket in international cricket on 30 September 2009. He bowled Travis Dowlin of the West Indies during a match of the 2009 Champions Trophy.

Dhoni batting against South Africa during the group stage match of 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.

Dhoni topped the ICC ODI Batsman rankings for several months continuously in 2009. Michael Hussey from Australia replaced him for the top spot in the beginning of 2010.^[61]

Dhoni had an excellent year in ODIs in 2009 scoring 1198 runs in just 24 innings at an astonishing average of 70.43. Dhoni was also the joint top-scorer in ODIs in 2009 along with Ricky Ponting, but the latter having played in 30 innings.

On 12 February 2012, Dhoni made an unbeaten 44 to guide India to their first win over Australia at Adelaide. In the final over, he hit a monstrous six which traveled 112 metres off the bowling of Clint McKay. During the post-match presentation, he described this six as more important than the one he hit during the ICC World Cup final in 2011.^[62]

Test career

Test Career of Dhoni. Each bar indicates a single innings and the red line indicates the progression in his career batting average. An alternative image showing a 10 innings moving average is available.

Following his good one-day form against Sri Lanka, Dhoni replaced Dinesh Karthik in December 2005 as the Indian Test wicket-keeper.^[63] Dhoni scored 30 runs in his debut match that was marred by rain. Dhoni came to the crease when the team was struggling at 109/5 and as wickets kept falling around him, he played an aggressive innings and was the last man dismissed.^[64] Dhoni made his maiden half-century in the second Test and his quick scoring rate (half century came off 51 balls) aided India to set a target of 436 and the Sri Lankans were bowled out for 247.^[65]

India toured Pakistan in January-February 2006 and Dhoni scored his maiden century in the second Test at Faisalabad. India were left in a tight spot as Dhoni was joined by Irfan Pathan with the team still 107 away from avoiding follow-on. Dhoni played his typical aggressive innings as he brought up his maiden Test hundred in just 93 balls after scoring the first fifty in just 34 deliveries.^[66]

Dhoni at fielding practice.

Dhoni followed the century with some prosaic batting performances over the next three matches, one against Pakistan that India lost and two against England that had India holding a 1–0 lead. Dhoni was the top scorer in India's first innings in the third Test at Wankhede Stadium as his 64 aided India post a respectable 279 in reply to England's 400. However Dhoni and the Indian fielders dropped catches and missed many dismissal chances including a key stumping opportunity of Andrew Flintoff (14).^[67] Dhoni failed to collect the Harbhajan Singh delivery cleanly as Flintoff went on to make 36 more runs as England set a target of 313 for the home team, a target that India were never in the reckoning. A batting collapse saw the team being dismissed for 100 and Dhoni scored just 5 runs and faced criticism for his wicket-keeping lapses as well as his shot selections.

On the West Indies tour in 2006, Dhoni scored a quick and aggressive 69 in the first Test at Antigua. The rest of the series was unremarkable for Dhoni as he scored 99 runs in the remaining 6 innings but his wicket-keeping skills improved and he finished the series with 13 catches and 4 stumpings. In the Test series in South Africa later that year, Dhoni's scores of 34 and 47 were not sufficient to save the second Test against the Proteas as India lost the series 2–1, squandering the chance to build on their first ever Test victory in South Africa (achieved in the first Test match). Dhoni's bruised hands ruled him out of the third Test match.^[68]

On the fourth day of the first Test match at Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's, Antigua during India's tour of West Indies, 2006, Dhoni's flick off Dave Mohammed to the midwicket region was caught by Daren Ganga. As the batsman started to walk back, captain Dravid declared the innings when confusion started as the umpires were not certain if the fielder stepped on the ropes and Dhoni stayed for the umpire's verdict. While the replays were inconclusive, the captain of the West Indies side, Brian Lara, wanted Dhoni to walk off based on the fielder's assertion of the catch. The impasse continued for more than 15 minutes and Lara's temper was on display with finger wagging against the umpires and snatching the ball from umpire Asad Rauf. Ultimately, Dhoni walked off and Dravid's declaration was effected but the game was delayed, and Lara's action was criticised by the commentators and former players. Lara was summoned by the match referee to give an explanation of his actions but he was not fined.^[69]

Dhoni scored two centuries in Sri Lanka's tour of India in 2009, a series of three matches in which he led India to a 2–0 victory. With this feat, India soared up to the number one position in Test cricket for the first time in history. India scored 726–9 (decl) in the third match of this series, which is their highest Test total ever.^[70]

Captain of India

Dhoni behind Stumps

Dhoni was named the captain of Indian squad for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa in September 2007.^[71] India were crowned champions as Dhoni led the team to victory against Pakistan in a thrilling contest.^[72] He, then, went on to become the ODI captain of the Indian team for the seven-match ODI series against Australia in September 2007.^[73] He made his debut as full-time Test captain of India during the fourth and final Test against Australia at Nagpur in November 2008 replacing Anil Kumble who was injured in the third test and who then announced his retirement. Dhoni was vice-captain in this series up to that point.^[74] India eventually won that Test thus clinching the series 2–0 and retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.^[75] Dhoni had previously captained India on a stand-in basis against South Africa and Australia in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

It was under his captaincy that India climbed to No. 1 in the ICC Test Rankings in December 2009. After that he managed to lead India in a series-leveling world championship of Tests against the South Africans in February 2010. India also managed to draw the Test series 1-1 in South Africa later that year.

After winning the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup final against Sri Lanka on 2 April 2011 with his match winning knock of unbeaten 91, Tendulkar heaped praises on Dhoni, claiming him to be the best captain he has played under. Tendulkar mentioned that it was Dhoni's calm influence that was rubbing off on all his team-mates and described Dhoni's handling of pressure was incredible.

Only nine players have captained ten or more Tests playing as a wicket-keeper. Dhoni leads the table with 33 Tests as captain, 15 ahead of Gerry Alexander in second place.^[76]

In March 2013, Dhoni became the most successful Indian Test captain when he eclipsed Sourav Ganguly’s record of 21 victories from 49 Tests.^[77] Ganguly also said in an interview to a news channel that Dhoni is the all-time greatest captain of India and he has a great record to support this credential.

Match bans

Due to slow-over rate, Dhoni being the captain of Indian cricket team has seldom faced with a restrictions to play in the matches. In December 2009, he was suspended for two ODI matches against Sri Lanka when ICC match referee Jeff Crowe imposed the ban as India was three over beyond the specified duration. Hence Virender Sehwag was named the skipper for the two matches in Cuttack and Kolkata.^[78] Further, in January 2012 he was banned for the fourth Test match against Australia in Adelaide. Dhoni was two over short during the third Test in Perth.^[79] Consequently, Sehwag captained the team in the Adelaide test and Wriddhiman Saha kept the wickets. In the CB Series in February, Dhoni again faced a one match ban for slow-over rate against Australia.

World Cup

Under Dhoni's captaincy, India won the 2011 World Cup. In the final against Sri Lanka, chasing 275, Dhoni promoted himself up the batting order, coming before Yuvraj Singh. When he came to bat India needed more than six runs per over with three top order batsmen already dismissed. He started building a good partnership with Gautam Gambhir. Due to good strokeplay and active running between wickets, they kept up with the required run rate. Dhoni was on 60 off 60 balls, but later accelerated with a greater flow of boundaries, ending with 91 not out off 79 balls. Befitting the occasion, he finished the match of in style with a huge six over long-on off bowler Nuwan Kulasekara and won Man of the Match. Later in the post match presentation, he admitted that he came up the order so as to counter the Muralitharan spin threat as he was very familiar with Murali's bowling, who was his team-mate in the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings. He had come after the dismissal of Virat Kohli, also a right-handed batsman. By partnering the left-handed Gambhir, he ensured a right-left combination at the crease that makes it difficult for bowlers to settle into a rhythm.

The bat used by Dhoni in the final match was sold for 72 Lac. The money goes to Sakshi Rawat Foundation, operated by Dhoni's wife Sakshi Rawat to help orphan children.^[80]

Indian Premier League

Dhoni was contracted by the Chennai Super Kings for 1.5 Million USD. This made him the most expensive player in the IPL for the first season auctions.^[81] Dhoni is the present captain of the Chennai Super Kings Team. Under his captaincy, Chennai Super Kings have won two Indian Premier League titles and the 2010 Champions League Twenty20.

Season by season at IPL

IPL Batting Statistics of Suresh Raina
Year	Team	Inns	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100	50
2008	Chennai Super Kings^[82]^[83]^[84]^[85]^[86]	14	414	65	41.40	133.54	0	2
2009		13	332	58*	41.50	127.20	0	2
2010		11	287	66*	31.88	136.66	0	2
2011		13	392	70*	43.55	158.70	0	2
2012		17	357	51*	29.75	128.41	0	1
2013		16	461	67*	41.90	162.89	0	4
2008-2013 Total		84	2243	70*	38.01	141.15	0	13

Statistics and records

ODI cricket

#	Opponent	Matches	Runs	Average	High Score	100s	50s	Catches	Stumping
ODI career records by opposition
1	Africa XI^[87]	3	174	87.00	139*	1	0	3	3
2	Australia	29	840	40.00	124	1	4	28	10
3	Bangladesh	13	338	67.60	101*	1	1	13	8
4	Bermuda	1	29	29.00	29	0	0	1	0
5	England	32	1094	52.09	96	0	9	31	8
6	Hong Kong	1	109	-	109*	1	0	1	3
7	Ireland	1	34	34.00	34	0	0	3	0
8	Netherlands	1	19	-	19*	0	0	1	0
9	New Zealand	11	309	51.50	84*	0	2	7	2
10	Pakistan	29	1208	60.40	148	2	9	25	6
11	Scotland	1	-	-	-	-	-	2	-
12	South Africa	19	386	25.73	107	0	2	7	1
13	Sri Lanka	55	2041	60.02	183*	2	16	58	15
14	West Indies	19	521	47.36	95	0	3	16	5
15	Zimbabwe	2	123	123.00	67*	0	2	0	1
Total		217	7225	52.35	183*	8	48	206	68

ODI centuries:

#	Runs	Match	Against	Stadium	City/Country	Year
ODI centuries
1	148	5	Pakistan	ACA-VDCA Stadium	Vishakapatnam, India	2005
2	183*	22	Sri Lanka	Sawai Mansingh Stadium	Jaipur, India	2005
3	139*	74	Africa XI^[87]	MA Chidambaram Stadium	Chennai, India	2007
4	109*	109	Hong Kong	National Stadium	Karachi, Pakistan	2008
5	124	143	Australia	VCA Stadium	Nagpur, India	2009
6	107	152	Sri Lanka	VCA Stadium	Nagpur, India	2009
7	101*	156	Bangladesh	Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium	Dhaka, Bangladesh	2010
8	113*	212	Pakistan	MA Chidambaram Stadium	Chennai, India	2012

ODI records

On 31 October 2005 Dhoni scored 183* runs of just 145 balls against Sri Lanka in Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, which is the highest score made by any batsman in the second innings which was latter bettered by Australian player Shane Watson who scored 185* of 96 balls against Bangladesh at Dhaka on 11 April 2011.^[45]
- The innings featured 10 Sixes – the most by an Indian in an innings, and the fifth highest in ODIs.^[88]
- He broke Adam Gilchrist's record of 172 for the highest score made by a wicket keeper.
- The innings set the record for the most number of runs scored in boundaries (120 – 15×4; 10×6) breaking the record held by Saeed Anwar. However this was later broken by Herschelle Gibbs (126 runs in boundaries – 21×4; 7×6) against Australia during his knock of 175.
- The score of 183* equalled Ganguly's innings during the 1999 Cricket World Cup as the highest individual score against Sri Lanka.
Among Indian batsmen who have played more than 50 matches, Dhoni has the highest average.^[89] Dhoni's batting average is also the highest amongst wicketkeepers in ODIs.
In June 2007, Dhoni(139*) and Mahela Jayawardene(107)^[87] set a new world record for the sixth wicket partnership of 218 runs against Africa XI during the Afro-Asia Cup.^[90]
- Dhoni passed Shaun Pollock's record for the highest individual score by a number seven batsman in one-day internationals during his unbeaten innings of 139.^[91] Incidentally, Pollock record stood for just three days as his score of 130 came in the first match of the 2007 Afro-Asia Cup while Dhoni's century came in the third and final match of the series.
- Dhoni also holds the records of the most dismissals in an innings by an Indian wicketkeeper and joint International (with Adam Gilchrist) with 6 dismissals (5 catches and one stumping) against England at Headlingly 2 September 2007.
- Dhoni holds the Indian record of most dismissals in ODIs. He went past Nayan Mongia's 154 for India on 14 November 2008 when he caught Ian Bell off Zaheer Khan at Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground, Rajkot. However including 3 ODIs against Africa XI, his 155th dismissal was TM Dilshan caught off Munaf Patel at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on 24 August 2008.
Dhoni, when he was on four during his innings of 23 against Sri Lanka at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Saturday, completed 4,000 runs in ODIs. Having already effected 165 dismissals (125 catches + 40 stumpings), Dhoni became the sixth wicketkeeper after Adam Gilchrist, Andy Flower, Alec Stewart, Mark Boucher and Kumar Sangakkara to complete the "double" of 4,000 runs and 100 dismissals in the history of ODIs. Dhoni’s feat of completing the "double" of 4,000 runs and 100 dismissals in only 114 innings is a world record. He is the youngest wicket-keeper batsman to do so (27 years and 208 days).
Dhoni is the only captain in the ODI history to score a century while batting at No.7.He did this against Pakistan on 30th December2012.

Record in international cricket

Dhoni's results in international matches
	Matches	Won	Lost	Drawn	Tied	No result
Test^[92]^[93]	73	29	18	26	0	–
ODI^[94]	208	116	78	-	2	12
T20I^[95]	31	14	15	–	1	1

Man of the Series Awards:

S No	Series (Opponents)	Season	Series Performance
1	Sri Lanka in India ODI Series	2005/06	346 Runs (7 Matches & 5 Innings, 1×100, 1×50); 6 Catches & 3 Stumpings
2	India in Bangladesh ODI Series	2007	127 Runs (2 Matches & 2 Innings, 1×50); 1 Catches & 2 Stumpings^[96]
3	India in Sri Lanka ODI Series	2008	193 Runs (5 Matches & 5 Innings, 2×50); 3 Catches & 1 Stumping
4	India in West Indies ODI Series	2009	182 Runs (4 Matches & 3 Innings with an average of 91); 4 Catches & 1 Stumping
5	India in England ODI Series	2011	236 Runs (5 Matches & 5 Innings with an average of 78.66, 3×50)
6	England in India ODI Series	2011	212 Runs (5 Matches & 4 Innings with out been dismissed even once in the series, 2×50)

Man of the Match Awards:

S No	Opponent	Venue	Season	Match Performance
1	Pakistan	Vishakapatnam	2004/05	148 (123b, 15×4, 4×6); 2 Catches
2	Sri Lanka	Jaipur	2005/06	183* (145b, 15×4, 10×6); 1 Catch
3	Pakistan	Lahore	2005/06	72 (46b, 12×4); 3 Catches
4	Bangladesh	Mirpur	2007	91* (106b, 7×4); 1 Stumping
5	Africa XI^[87]	Chennai	2007	139* (97b, 15×4, 5×6); 3 Stumpings
6	Australia	Chandigarh	2007	50* ( 35b, 5×4 1×6); 2 Stumpings
7	Pakistan	Guwahati	2007	63, 1 Stumping
8	Sri Lanka	Karachi	2008	67, 2 Catches
9	Sri Lanka	Colombo (RPS)	2008	76, 2 Catches
10	New Zealand	McLean Park, Napier	2009	84*, 1 Catch & 1 Stumping
11	West Indies	Beausejour Stadium, St. Lucia	2009	46*, 2 Catches & 1 Stumping
12	Australia	Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur	2009	124, 1 Catches, 1 Stumping & 1 Runout
13	Bangladesh	Mirpur	2010	101* (107b, 9×4)
14	Sri Lanka	Wankhede Stadium	2011	91*
15	England	Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium	2011	87*, 1 Catch & 1 Stumping
16	Pakistan	Chennai	2012	113*
17	Pakistan	Feroz Shah Kotla	2013	36, 1 Catch & 1 Stumping

Test cricket

Test performance:^[97]

#	Opponents	Matches	Runs	Average	High Score	100s	50s	Catches	Stumpings
Test career records by opposition
1	Australia	17	922	36.88	224	1	5	43	14
2	Bangladesh	3	193	96.50	89	0	2	12	3
3	England	16	808	32.32	99	0	8	46	4
4	New Zealand	7	482	60.25	98	0	5	21	5
5	Pakistan	5	323	64.60	148	1	2	9	1
6	South Africa	10	560	37.33	132*	1	2	24	1
7	Sri Lanka	9	491	49.10	110	2	2	21	1
8	West Indies	10	430	26.88	144	1	2	36	7
Total		77	4209	39.71	224	6	28	212	36

Test centuries:

#	Runs	Match	Against	Stadium	City/Country	Year
Test centuries
1	148	5	Pakistan	Iqbal Stadium	Faisalabad, Pakistan	2006
2	110	38	Sri Lanka	Sardar Patel Stadium	Ahmedabad, India	2009
3	100*	40	Sri Lanka	Brabourne Stadium	Mumbai, India	2009
4	132*	42	South Africa	Eden Gardens	Kolkata, India	2010
5	144	63	West Indies	Eden Gardens	Kolkata, India	2011
6	224	74	Australia	M.A. Chidambaram Stadium	Chennai, India	2013

Man of the Match Awards:

S No	Opponent	Venue	Season	Match Performance
1	Australia	Mohali	2008	92 & 68*
2	Australia	M.A. Chidambaram Stadium	2013	224

Test records

Dhoni's maiden century against Pakistan in Faisalabad (148) is the fastest century scored by an Indian wicket keeper. Only three centuries by two other wicket-keepers (Kamran Akmal and Adam Gilchrist – 2) were faster than Dhoni's 93 ball century.^[98]
Under Dhoni's captaincy, India defeated Australia by 320 runs on 21 October 2008, biggest ever win in terms of runs for India.^[99]
Dhoni holds the record for most catches by an Indian player in an innings. He achieved this feat by taking six catches during the first innings of the third test against New Zealand in Wellington in April 2009.
Dhoni also equalled Syed Kirmani's record for most dismissals in an innings by an Indian wicket-keeper. Syed Kirmani has effected 6 dismissals (5 catches and 1 stumping) against New Zealand in 1976. Dhoni now has equalled that record for most dismissals with 6 dismissals (all 6 catches) against New Zealand in 2009.
Dhoni currently ranks third in the all-time dismissals list by Indian wicket-keepers. With the six dismissals in the first innings of the Test match against New Zealand in Auckland in April 2009, Dhoni has now been involved in 109 dismissals. The following is the list of top five Indian wicket-keepers, in terms of all-time dismissals in test matches: Syed Kirmani (198 dismissals), Kiran More (130 dismissals), Dhoni (109 dismissals), Nayan Mongia (107 dismissals) and Farokh Engineer (82 dismissals).
Dhoni is now the second wicketkeeper to have effected 6 dismissals in an innings apart from a fifty in each innings of a Test match. Denis Lindsay had accomplished the feat for South Africa against Australia at Johannesburg in December 1966 — 69 & 182 and 6 catches + 2 catches.
Under Dhoni's captaincy, India reached their highest test score of 726–9 (decl) during Sri Lanka's tour of India in 2009. Their 2–0 victory in the series took them to the number 1 ranking in Test cricket for the first time in history.
Under Dhoni's captaincy, India did not lose a test match until the first test versus South Africa in Nagpur in February 2010. As a captain, he holds a record for longest unbeaten run in tests from his debut, 11 tests (8 wins and 3 draws). This record crossed former Australian captain Warwick Armstrong's run of 10 unbeaten tests (8 wins, 2 draws) from debut. In Dhoni's streak, however, there was a period of injury in which Virender Sehwag led the side (for 3 draws). So India's unbeaten streak was for 14 tests, of which 11 were Dhoni's.^{[citation needed]}
However Dhoni's unbeaten streak of 11 Test matches ended during India's tour of England in 2011 and England also replaced India from No. 1 spot in ICC Test team rankings.
Dhoni shares with Nayan Mongia the record of most dismissals (8) by an Indian wicket-keeper in a Test match (as of February 2013).^[100]
Dhoni holds the record of most dismissals (8 – 7 catches and 1 stumping) by an Indian wicket-keeper in a Test match which includes at least one stumping (as of Feb 2013).
Dhoni holds the world record for most stumpings (12) in test wins as a captain (as of February 2013)^[101]
Dhoni’s 224 is the highest score by an Indian captain in Tests bettering Sachin Tendulkar’s 217 against New Zealand at Ahmedabad in 1999.
Dhoni has registered the highest Test score by an Indian wicketkeeper. On 193, he beat a long-standing record of 192 held by Budhi Kunderan against England in 1964, also scored in Chennai.
Dhoni has registered the highest score in Test history by a wicketkeeper-captain beating Englishman Alec Stewart’s 164 Vs South Africa in 1998
Dhoni is the first Indian wicket keeper to complete 4,000 Test runs.
Dhoni is the first wicketkeeper to score a double century in a single day.^[102]
Dhoni is the most successful Indian Test captain with 22 Test victories, eclipsing Sourav Ganguly’s record of 21 victories from 49 Tests.^[77]

Captaincy record

Venue	Span	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	Draw
Captaincy Record in Test Matches
At Home Venues	2008–2013	28	19	3	0	6^[103]
At Away Venues	2009–2012	19	5	9	0	5^[104]
TOTAL	2008–2012	47	24	12	0	11^[105]

Venue	Span	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R
Captaincy Record in One Day Internationals
In India (At Home Venues)	2007–2013	51	31	17	1	2^[106]
At Away and Neutral Venues	2008–2012	84	46	30	2	6^[107]
TOTAL	2007–2013	137	79	47	3	8^[108]

Venue	Span	Matches	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R
Captaincy Record in Twenty20 Internationals
In India (At Home Venues)	2007–2011	9	4	5	0	0^[109]
At Away Venues	2007–2012	13	5	8	0	0^[110]
At Neutral Venues	2007–2010	19	11	6	1	1^[111]
TOTAL	2007–2012	41	20	19	1	1^[112]

Note – In the 2010 ICC World Twenty20, India played a Super 8 Match against West Indies. This match comes under the List of Matches played in Away Venues as the 2010 ICC World Twenty20 was being hosted in West Indies

Honorary Awards and Appreciations

ICC World ODI XI: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
ICC ODI Player of the Year : 2008, 2009
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest honour given for achievement in sports, 2007–08.
Honorary doctorate degree by De Montfort University in August 2011.^[113]

The Territorial Army conferred the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel^[114] to Dhoni on 1 November 2011. He is the second Indian cricketer after Kapil Dev to have received this honour.

Endorsements

Dhoni signed with Kolkata-based celebrity management company Gameplan Sports in April 2005.^[115]^[116] Currently Dhoni has 20 endorsements, only Shahrukh Khan has more (21).^[117] In 2007 Dhoni had 17 endorsements.^[118] In July 2010, Dhoni tied up with Rhiti Sports Management and Mindscapes and has been promised a minimum guarantee of Rs 210 crore over the next three years.^[119]

The following is the list of endorsements signed by Dhoni.

2005: Pepsico,^[120]^[121] Reebok,^[120]^[121] Exide,^[121] TVS Motors.^[122]
2006: Mysore Sandal Soap,^[123] Videocon,^[124] Reliance Communications,^[125] Reliance Energy,^[125] Orient PSPO Fan,^[126] Bharat Petroleum,^[127] Titan Sonata,^[128] Brylcreem,^[129] NDTV,^[130] GE Money.^[131]
2007: Siyaram.^[132]
2008: Fashion at Big Bazaar alongside Bollywood actress Asin, Maha Choco, Boost (health food), Dainik Bhaskar^[133]
2009: Dabur Honey, Kolkata Fashion Week.^[134] Aircel communications, Nova Scottia Premium shirts.
2010: Amrapali^[135]

VIRAT KOHLI

Virat Kohli was born on 5th November 1988 to Prem Kohli (father) & Saroj Kohli (mother) at Delhi. He grew up at Delhi and studied at St. Sofia School in Paschim Vihar, Delhi.

Virat Kohli lived in Uttam Nagar, Delhi and got his initial cricket training from West Delhi Cricket Academy. He also played for Sumit Dogra Academy in Vasundhara Enclave near Noida.

Virat Kohli came to lime light when he scored 90 runs to save Delhi from follow-on in the match against Karnataka on December 19, 2006. On the same day, his father had passed away at 3 in the morning due to brain stroke. His innings of 90 was termed "Very Crucial" by his captain Mitthun Manhas.

Virat Kohli, an attacking player with a cool head has already earned reputation as atalented, level-headed and mature cricketer. Batting at his favorite no.3 position, Virat Kohli has an urge for converting his fifties into big scores, as he show cased his talent in 2005 when he single-handedly took Delhi from 70 for 4 to a first-innings lead with a knock of 251 off 431 balls against Himachal Pradesh in the U-17 championships. Kohlimade his first-class debut for Delhi in 2006-2007 Ranji Trophy and in January 2008 was named captain of the Indian U-19 squad for the 2008 World Cup. He led India's unbeaten campaign in Malaysia. He contributed 235 runs and he is the second Indian U-19 captain to bring home the World Cup.

Virat Kohli was included in India's squad for the one-day series against Sri Lanka in August 2008 and the Champions Trophy to follow in Pakistan. Kohli was given a chance to debut in the opening match of the Sri Lanka series as a replacement for the injured Virender Sehwag, and he finished the five match series as the fourth highest run-getter with 159 runs. Virat Kohli played his first T20 international match againstZimbabwe at the Harare Cricket Ground on June 12,2010. Virat Kohli was included in the test squad against West Indies and he made his debut on 20th June, 2011.

Virat Kohli also plays IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore. He was bought for $30,000 before the first season in 2008. He has been playing since 2008 and his form has been exponentially increasing. He was the only player who was retained for the fourth season by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Virat Kohli scored 557 runs in 16 matches in the fourth edition of IPL, which is the second highest aggregate score only next to his team mate Chris Gayle who scored 608 in 12 matches.

Quick Facts !!

è Virat Kohli led the Indian team to its second ever ICC U19 Cricket World Cup triumph in 2008.

è Virat Kohli scored 235 runs in 6 matches at an average of 47, including a century in the tournament.

è Virat Kohli became the joint third fastest in the history and the fastest Indian to reach the 1000 run mark in ODI's. He took a mere 24 innings to achieve this feet.

è In the Tri-nation series in Dhaka involving Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Kohli was the top scorer in the tournament with 275 runs.

è His 224 run stand with Gautham Gambhir helped India chase down a stiff Sri Lankan target of 316 runs in an ODI in 2009.

è A big turning point in his career came at an 'Emerging Player Tournament' in 2009 where Virat Kohli helped India to lift the trophy and was the leading run-scorer. He scored 398 runs with two centuries and two fifties.

è Virat Kohli became the third Indian player after Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Rainato score two centuries before turning 22.

è Virat Kohli's role model is Herschelle Gibbs of South Africa.

è Lawn Tennis is the next thing which fascinates Virat Kohli a lot. He is huge fan ofLeander Paes and Roger Federer.