Mahendra Singh Dhoni, known as "Captain Cool," is celebrating his 44th birthday on Monday, July 7. After leading India to three ICC titles - ODI World Cup, the T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy, Dhoni retired from international cricket nearly five years ago but his presence in the sport remains as influential as ever. The five-times IPL winning captain recently featured in the cash rich-league for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during the 2025 season.
At his 44th birthday, let's take a look at seven remarkable records of MS Dhoni that may never be broken:
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MS Dhoni is the only captain in cricket history to win all three major ICC titles - the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 ODI Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. This monumental achievement is unlikely to be replicated by any other captain in the future.
MS Dhoni holds the world record for captaining a team in most international matches. He led India in 332 international matches across all formats (60 Tests, 200 ODIs, 72 T20Is). With his longevity and consistency, Dhoni surpassed Ricky Ponting’s record of captaining in 324 matches. Given his current trend of shorter captaincy tenures, this record of Dhoni is nearly untouchable.
MD Dhoni holds the record for winning the most number of matches as a captain in IPL history. He has won 136 out of 235 matches in IPL. Close to Dhoni on the list comes Rohit Sharma with 87 wins. Since, Rohit doesn't captain in IPL now, it is very difficult for anyone to break this record of Dhoni in the cash-rich league.
At 42 years and 325 days, MS Dhoni became the oldest captain to win an IPL trophy in history after CSK beat Gujarat Titans in a last-ball thriller in the final of the 2023 season. It's almost impossible for any other captain to win an IPL trophy at that old age.
MS Dhoni has played as captain in the IPL for a record 235 times, the highest for any cricketer so far. His record of most matches as captain looks safe as the next player with most matches as skipper in the IPL is Rohit Sharma (158), who is no longer a captain of any team.
MS Dhoni’s lightning-fast wicket-keeping skills helped him create a record of 195 stumpings across all international formats (123 in ODIs, 38 in Tests, 34 in T20Is). The rarity of wicket-keepers playing all formats extensively in the current era makes this record extremely difficult to break.
Notably, MS Dhoni is the only player to score over 10,000 runs in ODIs while batting at number 6 or lower, amassing 10,268 runs. His ability to rebuild innings and accelerate in the lower order was a benchmark that is unlikely to be surpassed by any modern lower-order batter.
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