3 major landmarks for India under MS Dhoni’s captaincy

MS Dhoni celebrates his 41st birthday today (Thursday), June 7. The former captain and wicketkeeper is one of the greatest leaders and players to have donned the Indian blues.

Team India went through one of their most glorious phases under MS Dhoni, adding some big trophies to their cabinet. He has captained the Men in Blue in the most number of white-ball matches, and has the best ODI record for any Indian captain who has led in over 100 matches

In ODIs, Dhoni captained India in 200 matches, winning 110 of them with a win percentage of 59.52. He led the team to 41 wins in 72 T20I matches, and 27 Test wins in 60 matches. India reached some major landmarks under his captaincy, and here are three of them.

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#3 MS Dhoni led India to the inaugural T20 World Cup

India went into the 2007 T20I World Cup in South Africa with a young side. MS Dhoni was handed the captaincy reign for the first time and delivered in style.

Defying all expectations, India went on a title-winning run to win the first-ever World Cup in the shortest format. They defeated Pakistan in a nail-biting final to send the country into a frenzy after a disappointing cricketing year.

He was soon handed the Test and ODI captaincy as a new chapter in Indian cricket history started.

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#2 No.1 ranked Test team in 2009

New Zealand v India - 2nd Test: Day 1

After being handed the Test captaincy in 2008 following the retirement of Anil Kumble, Dhoni led India to the summit of the Test rankings within a year. This was the first time the Men in Blue became the top-ranked team in the ICC Test rankings.

India needed to defeat Sri Lanka in the last Test of a three-match series at home in November-December 2009 to displace South Africa at the top, and they did so in style. They won by an innings and 24 runs to win the series 2-0 and take home the mace.

Dhoni scored an unbeaten 100* in the only Indian innings of the match. Virender Sehwag was named the player of the encounter for his exhilarating 254-ball-293.

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#1 2011 ODI World Cup

MS Dhoni’s crown jewel, the 2011 ODI World Cup, was the biggest moment in the wicketkeeper-batter’s international career. India went into the tournament among the favorites, but a tied match against England and a defeat to South Africa saw them finish second in their group.

They were pitted against defending champions Australia (who had won the last three World Cups) in the quarterfinals. But the Men in Blue played some amazing cricket to defeat Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka en route to their second ODI World Cup title.

What made it even more special was that Dhoni scored the winning runs for India in the final at Wankhede with a trademark six (helicopter shot) over long on.