Mahendra Singh Dhoni (About this sound
pronunciation (help·info); 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. 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
Chennai.
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 Ratna award 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]