Produced by: Hitansh Gaur
The legendary former captain of India and the current skipper of IPL team Chennai Super Kings turned 42 on Friday. Fans of Dhoni have not left any stone unturned as they celebrate the ‘Thalaiva’ of cricket.
Fans of the legend are celebrating the occasion in their own style, but the people of Andhra Pradesh took the celebrations to another level as they erected two giant cut-outs of Dhoni in Hyderabad and Nandigama. The one in Hyderabad is 52-feet tall while the one in Nandigama goes up to 77-feet.
Ravindra Jadeja who had hit the winning shot in this year's IPL finale also wished his CSK skipper on social media. He wrote, “My go to man since 2009 to till date and forever. Wishing you a very happy birthday mahi bhai.📷see u soon in yellow📷 #respect”
Dhoni’s former CSK and India teammate, Suresh Raina also posted a video of Dhoni as he wished his big brother. Raina wrote, “Happy birthday to my big brother @msdhoni ! 🎉 From sharing the pitch to sharing our dreams, the bond that we've created is unbreakable. Your strength, both as a leader and as a friend, has been my guiding light. May the year ahead bring you joy, success, and good health. Keep shining, keep leading, and keep spreading your magic. ❤️”
The Indian cricket board also wished the most successful Indina captain. BCCI tweeted, “Captain. Leader. Legend! 📷 Wishing @msdhoni - former #TeamIndia Captain & one of the finest to have ever graced the game - a very happy birthday 📷”
MS Dhoni is most likely the best wicket keeper ever in international cricket. Even though everyone has seen his extraordinary stumping skills, Dhoni holds another record as a batter. Dhoni has scored the most runs by a wicker keeper in a single ODI innings. The former Indian captain scored 183 runs not-out against Sri Lanka in 2005 and it is yet to be broken.
Dhoni is the most successful international cricket captain as he is the only one to lift all three ICC tournament trophies. Dhoni won the T20 World Cup in 2007, ICC World Cup in 2011 and then the Champions Trophy in 2013.
The captain of CSK has played in eleven IPL finals since the T20 domestic league started in 2008.
Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on August 15, 2020. During his 15-year long career, he played 538 matches scoring 17,266 runs. Dhoni scored 16 centuries and 108 half-centuries.
The cricket legend holds the record for fifth-most dismissals by a wicket-keeper in Test cricket. He also holds the record for most dismissals and most stumpings in a single ODI innings.
Dhoni owns over 200 gyms across the country running under the banner of SportsFit World Pvt. Ltd. He also owns a production house named ‘Dhoni Entertainment Private Limited (DEPL) which was founded in 2019. He is also a co-owner of Indian Super League team Chennaiyin FC.
After leading his team Chennai Super Kings to a record five IPL titles, MS Dhoni is yet to confirm his participation in the next edition of T20 tournament. Dhoni ended this year’s domestic league with a knee injury for which he had a surgery recently.