Every Record Dhoni Held, On The Day Of His Team India Retirement

A look at all the stats, records & accolades Dhoni has to his name as he announces his international retirement.

The moment cricket fans in India had been dreading for well over a year eventually came at roughly 7:30pm on India’s 74th Independence Day. On 15 August, MS Dhoni – who hadn’t played any international cricket since India’s exit in the World Cup semi-final more than twelve months ago – announced he was bidding adieu to international cricket.

Destiny’s favourite child, writing his own script... one last time.

Now even as MS Dhoni bids farewell to the Indian Blue, here’s a look at the records he’s collected through the 16 years of his international career, some big stats and some of his off-field greatest achievements.

International Debuts

• India ODI Debut: Vs. Ban at Chittagong, 23 Dec 2004
• India Test Debut: Vs. SL at Chennai, 2 Dec 2005
• India T20I Debut: Vs. SA at Johannesburg, 1 Dec 2006

Final Appearance in International Cricket

• In Test matches: Vs. Aus at Melbourne, 30 Dec 2014
• In ODIs: Vs. NZ at Manchester, 10 Jul 2019
• In T20Is: Vs. Aus at Bengaluru, 27 Feb 2019

In any other century, one wouldn’t associate Ranchi with too many famous personalities or household names. But all that would change with Dhoni’s arrival into the Indian team in 2004; the former Kharagpur station TT would go on to be the biggest name to emerge from the region, and gave Ranchi a place on the cricketing map.

Dhoni would not only be an immensely successful cricketer himself, he would go on to be India’s longest-serving Test captain, and the only captain to win all three ICC limited over titles.

Dhoni achieved a lot during his 16 years of international cricket. Here’s a look at some of the records which stand against his name at the time of hanging up his gloves:

1. Most matches as India's Test captain - 60 Test matches
2. Most matches as India's wicketkeeper in Tests - 90 matches
3. Most matches as captain-wicketkeeper in Test cricket - 60 matches
4. Most runs scored by an Indian wicketkeeper in Tests - 4876 runs
5. Only double century by Indian wicketkeeper in Tests - 224 v Aus at Chennai, 2013
6. Most matches as India's wicketkeeper in ODIs - 347 matches
7. Most runs as India's wicketkeeper in ODIs - 10599 runs
8. Most dismissals by Indian wicketkeeper in ODIs - 438 dismissals (318 catches, 120 stumpings)
9. Most runs as India's captain in ODIs - 6641 runs
10. Most matches as captain-wicketkeeper in ODIs - 200 matches
11. Most matches as captain in T20 Internationals - 72 matches

And here’s a list of some of the accolades he has earned through the course of his illustrious career:

1. Ranked #1 in ICC's rankings for ODI batsmen for the first time in April 2006
2. Led India to a win in the inaugural ICC World T20 in 2007
3. ICC One-Day Player of the Year 2008
4. In 2009, led India to a rare Test series win in New Zealand - first series win in NZ since 1968
5. ICC One-Day Player of the Year 2009
6. Honoured with the Padma Shri in 2009
7. Led India to number one in the ICC Test Rankings
8. Led India to a win in the ICC ODI World Cup in 2011
9. ICC Spirit of Cricket Award in 2011
10. Accorded honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian Army in 2011
11. Led India to a win in the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013
12. Named captain of ICC's ODI Team of the Year for four consecutive years between 2011 and 2014
13. Honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2018

Dhoni’s international debut wasn’t an auspicious one; he was run out for duck in his debut ODI, but it wasn’t long before he made his presence felt.

In his 5th ODI, he smashed a 123-ball 148 against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam, and six months later in October 2005 scored an unbeaten 183 against Sri Lanka in Jaipur. That second hundred is still the highest score by a wicketkeeper in ODIs.

The ‘Captain Cool’ moniker also stuck with Dhoni for his ability to polish off run-chases; despite the mounting required run rate, Dhoni would take the contest deep, and step on the accelerator at the very end and take his team over the line. That ability, and such repeated performances earned him the right to be considered ‘the best finisher in the game’ for many years.

What is often forgotten is that Dhoni wasn’t the finished product as a wicketkeeper when he began playing international cricket. At that point, many even claimed Dhoni had ‘a goalkeeper technique’ and would struggle. However, he worked on that aspect of his game and would be among the top wicketkeepers to have played in the modern era; his glovework – particularly when effecting stumpings or run outs – have left many amazed.

Over the next few days, weeks and months, and at some point in time occasionally in the future too, there will be prose written about all that MS Dhoni achieved and all the laurels he brought for India as a nation and to the Indian cricket team. In addition to all those, perhaps his most significant contribution to Indian cricket is the belief he gave to small town boys – the belief he gave to cricketers from tier-three cities and villages - that they could also be successful, go on to play cricket for India if that was their choice, and even become an Indian captain.