Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a name every cricket enthusiast chants, respects and even worships. The legendary cricketer is celebrating his 43rd birthday today on July 7. Haven’t you ever wondered why he chose this jersey number? Scroll down for lesser-known details, along with seven milestones he achieved in his cricket career!
Earlier this year, at a promotional event, MS Dhoni revealed that his jersey number is linked to his date of birth. In fact, he was born in 1981 and 8-1 means seven, plus July is the seventh month of the year. So it all made sense! For those who don’t know, Javagal Srinath used to use that jersey number earlier, but after retirement, the former Indian cricket captain was lucky enough to use it. Not many would know, but he also had a backup jersey number – ’22’, which he used earlier during his football days as a goalkeeper.
A look at the seven records created by our legend MS Dhoni on his special day:
ICC Cricket World Cup (2011) – Historic Moment!
After a long gap of 28 years, MS Dhoni did the unthinkable and made us proud by leading India to victory in the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup. He played an extraordinary innings by scoring 91* against Sri Lanka in the final.
ICC T20 World Cup (2007) – The Revival of Indian Cricket!
India had lost the ICC Cricket World Cup under Rahul Dravid’s captaincy, leading to disappointment and outrage across the nation. MS Dhoni was handed over the captaincy duties and he led a young team to South Africa with no hopes or expectations. And there, a legend was born, who is set to achieve many more milestones after the glorious victory! Wasn’t that one of the most memorable moments of his career?
ICC Champions Trophy (2013) – The treble!
With the win in ICC Champions Trophy 2013, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become the only captain across the world to have won all three ICC limited-overs trophies – T20 World Cup, 50-over World Cup and Champions Trophy. Cricket lovers are well aware of this climax, and it would be safe to say that no other captain could have taken such a risk!
#1 batsman of all time!
In a total of 38 ODI innings since his debut, the cricket legend surpassed Ricky Ponting to become the fastest batsman to achieve rank #1.
#1 Test Ranking – Unfathomable!
In 2009 India achieved the number one position in the ICC Test rankings for the first time. Another great achievement by MS Dhoni!
Winning the IPL and Champions League T20 – Whistlepodu!
Under the captaincy of MS Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings have made it to the IPL finals the most number of times. He has led the team to victory not once or twice but four times so far – 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021.
Also, don’t forget that MSD also won the Champions League T20 titles in 2010 and 2014.
Wicketkeeping Achievements!
MS Dhoni’s captaincy and batting records are much appreciated, but isn’t his wicketkeeping the best ever? And we have the statistics to prove it –
- Most stumpings in international cricket – 195
- Fastest stumping- 0.08 seconds
- Most catches by an Indian wicketkeeper in ODIs – 444)
Happy Birthday to Mahendra Singh Dhoni! Happy birthday to our favourite sportsperson!
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