Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an Indian cricketer who captained the Indian team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2016 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. An attacking right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper, he is widely regarded as 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 handing India the 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.

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. Dhoni is the co-owner of Indian Super League team Chennaiyin FC.

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. 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 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." In 2012, Sports Pro rated Dhoni as the sixteenth most marketable athlete in the world.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.In 2016, a biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story was made on him.

The Chennai Super Kings (abbreviated as CSK) are a franchise cricket team based in Chennai,Tamil Nadu, that played in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008, the team played its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. On 14 July 2015, the Supreme Court appointed RM Lodha committee suspended the Super Kings from the IPL for a period of two years for the alleged involvement of their owners in the 2013 Indian Premier League betting case. Prior to the suspension, the team was captained by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and coached by Stephen Fleming.

The Super Kings were the most successful team in the IPL with a win percentage of 60.68 and had won the title twice in succession (2010 and 2011). In 2010, they won the Champions League Twenty20 for the first time and repeated the feat in 2014. The leading run-scorer of the team is Suresh Raina, while the leading wicket-taker is Ravichandran Ashwin. The brand value of the Super Kings in 2015 was estimated at $67 million, making them the third most valuable franchise in the IPL.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni Bio