Mahendra Singh Dhoni 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.