Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (born 7 July 1981) is an Indian cricketer who bats right-handed and keeps wicket. He is considered one of the finest wicket-keeper batsmen and captains in the sport’s history. Dhoni played for India and captained the limited-overs sides from 2007 to 2017, and the Test team from 2008 to 2014. He has led in more international matches than any other Indian captain and holds the record for the most wins as India’s skipper. Under his leadership, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 Cricket World Cup, and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy—making him the only captain to claim three different limited-overs ICC titles. He also captained the teams that won the Asia Cup in 2010 and 2016, and was part of the victorious squad in 2018.

Born in Ranchi, Dhoni played his first first-class match for Bihar in 1999. He debuted for India in a One Day International against Bangladesh on 23 December 2004, and played his first Test a year later against Sri Lanka. He became ODI captain in 2007 and took over the Test captaincy in 2008. Dhoni retired from Test cricket in 2014 but continued in limited-overs formats until 2019. Across all international cricket, he scored 17,266 runs, including 10,773 in ODIs at an average above 50.

In the Indian Premier League, Dhoni plays for Chennai Super Kings. He has led the team to the finals ten times and won the title five times (2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, and 2023)—a record he shares with Rohit Sharma. He also guided CSK to Champions League T20 titles in 2010 and 2014. Dhoni is one of the few batsmen to score over 5,000 runs in the IPL, and the first wicket-keeper to do so.

The Indian government awarded him the Khel Ratna in 2008, the Padma Shri in 2009, and the Padma Bhushan in 2018. In 2011, the Indian Army granted him an honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Territorial Army. He was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in June 2025.

Dhoni was born on 7 July 1981 in Ranchi, then in Bihar, now in Jharkhand, into a Hindu Rajput family. His parents, Pan Singh and Devaki Devi, originally came from Lwali village in Almora district, Uttar Pradesh (now Uttarakhand). He is the youngest of three children. His family spells the surname “Dhauni”; the spelling “Dhoni” came from a mistake on his school certificates and was never corrected despite their efforts.

He attended DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, where he first played football as a goalkeeper. On the advice of his coach Keshav Banerjee, he switched to cricket. From 2001 to 2003, he worked as a Travelling Ticket Examiner for the South Eastern Railway in Kharagpur.

Dhoni played as a wicket-keeper for Commando Cricket Club from 1995 to 1998 and for Central Coal Fields Limited in 1998. At CCL, he batted higher up the order and helped the team move to a higher division. His club performances earned him a spot in the 1997–98 Vinoo Mankad Trophy under-16 championship. In the 1998–99 Cooch Behar Trophy, he scored 176 runs in five matches for Bihar Under-19. The following season, Bihar Under-19 reached the finals; Dhoni made 84 in a losing cause. Overall, he scored 488 runs in nine matches, with five fifties, 17 catches, and seven stumpings. He then played for East Zone Under-19 in the 1999–2000 C. K. Nayudu Trophy, scoring only 97 runs in four matches as the team finished last.

Dhoni made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar against Assam in the 1999–2000 season at age 18, scoring 68 in the second innings. He finished the season with 283 runs in five matches. His maiden first-class century came for Bihar against Bengal in the 2000–01 Ranji Trophy. Apart from that century, he had no other score above fifty that season. In the 2001–02 Ranji Trophy, he managed five fifties in four matches. He played for Jharkhand in the 2002–03 Ranji Trophy and represented East Zone in the Deodhar Trophy, where he gained notice for his lower-order contributions and aggressive batting. In the 2003–04 season, he scored 128 not out against Assam in the first Ranji ODI match and was part of the East Zone squad that won the Deodhar Trophy, contributing 244 runs in four matches.

In the Duleep Trophy final, he scored a fighting half-century for East Zone in a losing cause. The BCCI’s TRDW initiative identified him as an emerging talent. In 2004, he was selected for the India A tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya. Against Zimbabwe XI in Harare, he took seven catches and made four stumpings. In a tri-nation tournament involving Kenya, India A, and Pakistan A, he helped India A chase 223 against Pakistan A with a half-century and finished the tournament with 362 runs in six innings at an average of 72.40, including back-to-back centuries.

In the early 2000s, India’s ODI team used Rahul Dravid as wicket-keeper to maintain batting depth, and also tried Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik. After Dhoni’s strong performances for India A, he was picked for the ODI squad on the Bangladesh tour in December 2004. He made his debut in the first match of that series.