MS Dhoni becomes the most experienced International Captain
Adding another feather to his cap, MS Dhoni became the most experienced captain in international captain after his latest match, a T20I against West Indies in Florida. Dhoni now has 325 matches to his name as skipper, surpassing Ricky Ponting's record of captaining 324 matches. The current limited-overs-captain so far led Team India in 60 Tests, 194 One Day Internationals, and 71 T20Is.
Humble beginnings
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was born on 7th July 1981 in Ranchi, Jharkand. Dhoni's first love was football. He took to cricket on the insistence of his coach. Raised in a middle-class family, Dhoni worked as a ticket collector (TC) with the Indian Railways. He first came to prominence when he scored a double ton for India A against Pakistan A, in Nairobi, in 2004.
Maiden ODI, Test centuries
Dhoni made his international ODI debut in December 2004, during India's tour of Bangladesh. MSD's maiden ODI century came against Pakistan in April 2005, where he scored 148 off 123 balls. He made his Test debut in December 2005, against Sri lanka. Dhoni popular for his limited over skills, scored his first Test 100 in January 2006 against Pakistan. He scored 148 off 153.
Captaincy and 2007 WT20
Just before being made the permanent captain, MS Dhoni led India to victory in the inaugural edition of ICC T20 World Cup in South Africa, in 2007. The victory displayed his leadership skills and he inherited the ODI captaincy from Rahul Dravid the same year. In 2008, he went on to become the captain of the Test team.
First overseas Test series victory
One of the memorable moments of Dhoni's career after taking over as Test captain, was his first overseas Test victory in 2009, against New Zealand. This led to India's rise to No.1 spot in Test rankings in 2009.
2011 World Cup, the best career moment
Dhoni's biggest career achievement was lifting the World Cup on home soil in 2011. This was also a big triumph for Indian cricket as India became world champions after 28 long years. In the final against Sri Lanka, Dhoni led from the front and scored an unbeaten 91 off 79 balls. He aptly scored the winning shot with a six.
Retirement from Test Cricket
On 30th Dec 2014, MSD announced his retirement from Test cricket. His last Test series came during India's tour of Australia in Dec 2014.
Winning records as captain
Out of the matches lead by Dhoni, he holds a win percentage of 59.56% in ODIs, having won 107 matches. He has a win percentage of 59.28% in T20s (won 41) and a low percentage of win 45% in Test matches (won 27).
