Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose name is now one with leadership and reliability in cricket, set a milestone by playing his 400th match in T20 for Chennai Super Kings against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
A T20 icon, Dhoni led India to the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup in 2007 and has been the captain of the Chennai Super Kings' Indian Premier League triumph, leading them to five championship titles. In his T20 career, he has accumulated 7,566 runs at a mind-boggling strike rate of 135.90.
At 44, Dhoni is no longer the explosive batsman, but behind the wickets his agility is unmatched. He still tops the list for most stumpings in T20s with 34 to his credit.
Following a horrific injury to their regular skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was out for the rest of IPL 2025 with a fractured elbow, Dhoni took over CSK captaincy once more. This is his first term as CSK on-field captain since they claimed their fifth championship playing in the 2023 IPL final in Ahmedabad, which was sealed by Ravindra Jadeja's last-over heroics.
Dhoni had originally given the reins to Gaikwad at the beginning of the previous season, choosing to remain a second fiddle on as well as off the field. But with Gaikwad out against Rajasthan Royals in Guwahati on his right forearm, an elbow fracture which turned out to be, Dhoni has picked up the reins once again.
Dhoni has captained Chennai Super Kings in a record 239 games, taking them through all of their five championship-winning seasons. He had surrendered the captaincy on his own account to Jadeja for 2022, but regained it in the middle of the season following a series of under-par performances. Indian players only Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Dinesh Karthik have joined Dhoni in reaching the 400-game mark in T20 cricket.
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