"Picasso of captaincy" - Twitterati pours in wishes for MS Dhoni as the legend turns 40 

MS Dhoni is celebrating his 40th birthday today

Twitterati is abuzz with wishes for former Team India captain and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni as the legendary cricketer turns 40 on Wednesday.

Dhoni retired from international cricket on August 15 last year, but was seen playing in IPL 2021 held in India earlier this year until the tournament was suspended midway through. He will be back in action as CSK captain when IPL 2021 resumes in the UAE in September.

From cricketers to die-hard Dhoni fans, many took to Twitter to greet the former India skipper as #HappyBirthdayMSDhoni trended on the social media platform. Dhoni’s longtime India and CSK teammate Suresh Raina shared a video which captured the camaraderie between the two cricketers.

While wishing Dhoni, former India batsman Mohammad Kaif wrote that:

“Dada (Sourav Ganguly) taught us youngsters how to win and Dhoni made it into a habit.”

Ganguly will be celebrating his birthday tomorrow, July 8. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the International Cricket Council (ICC), CSK and Cricket Australia (CA) also paid tribute to Dhoni on his birthday with special posts. Here are some of the many birthday wishes shared for Dhoni on Twitter:

MS Dhoni: A look at his incredible career

Making his international debut in 2004, Dhoni went on to become one of the greatest wicketkeeper-batsmen in cricketing history, particularly in the limited-overs format. He first came to prominence in international cricket when he blazed his way to a hundred against Pakistan in an ODI in Vizag in 2005. Dhoni was promoted to No.3 in this match by then skipper Ganguly.

The legendary cricketer went on to play 90 Tests and 350 ODIs, scoring 4,876 and 10,773 runs respectively. While Dhoni averaged 38.09 in Tests, he ended his ODI career with an average of 50.57. The Ranchi-born cricketer also featured in 98 T20Is, scoring 1617 runs at a strike rate of 126.13.

Dhoni remains the only captain in the history of cricket to win all three ICC titles. Under him, India won the T20 World Cup in 2007, the 50-over World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013. Dhoni, in fact, was the Man of the Match in the 2011 World Cup final against Sri Lanka. He scored an unbeaten 91 and also hit the winning six, which has since gained legendary status.

Having last represented India in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in Manchester, Dhoni brought down the curtains on his glorious international career on August 15 last year.