India@75 Sports Legends: MS Dhoni - the 'Captain Cool'

By Ayush Gupta | First Published Aug 15, 2022, 2:00 AM IST

India celebrates 75 years of its independence. To mark the milestone anniversary, we look at the top 75 sporting legends of the nation. In cricket, MS Dhoni is among the top-rated ones.

As far as Indian cricketing legends are concerned, there are aplenty. However, a notable few have etched their names in the history books and the hearts of the fans. While Sachin Tendulkar is one such name who will forever be at the top of the chart, next to him would undoubtedly be India's most successful skipper, MS Dhoni.

Although Dhoni made his breakthrough in the sport as one of the finest hitters of the ball, widely famous for his powerful 'helicopter shot'. However, he developed himself as a promising leader who heavily impacted the Indian team over the years. While he continued to influence as a batter, his captaincy became unparalleled to any preceding Indian skippers.

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His breakthrough year came in 2007 when he was handed the captaincy duties for the inaugural ICC World T20. To everyone's surprise, he led the side to the title win, creating history. Instantly, he was also handed the One-Day International (ODI) captaincy duties soon, where he did a fine job again.

In 2011, he led the side in the ICC World Cup, taking India to the final and hit the winning six against Sri Lanka to hand India its second ODI World Cup title, sending the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to a frenzy. He continued his splendid success across formats, while in 2013, he also helped the side win the ICC Champions Trophy, thus becoming the first skipper to win three different ICC titles.

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Besides, he also significantly impacted the Indian Premier League (IPL). Playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), he has helped the side win four titles, making him the second-best skipper of the tournament after Mumbai Indians' (MI) Rohit Sharma, with the latter winning five. Although he retired from international cricket in 2020, he has yet to call time on his professional career, making him a top candidate to win the fifth IPL title with CSK.

Some of Dhoni's definitive records

He helped India attain the number one ranking in Test cricket for the first time.
He holds the record for leading in most ODIs as a wicketkeeper (200).
Most matches as T20I skipper (72).
Only wicketkeeper to inflict 150 stumpings in international cricket.

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Some of the honours he received