FABULOUS CAPTAIN

[edit] Captain of India
Dhoni was named the captain of India Twenty 20 squad for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa.[54] India were crowned champions as Dhoni led the team to victory against Pakistan in a thrilling contest.[55] He would then go on to become the ODI captain of the Indian team for the seven-match ODI series against Australia in September 2007.[56] He made his debut as full-time Test captain of India during the fourth and final test against Australia at Nagpur in November 2008 replacing Anil Kumble who retired from cricket after the third test.[57] India eventually won that Test thus clinching the series 2-0 and retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.[58] Dhoni had previously captained India on a stand-in basis against South Africa and Australia in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

[edit] Two-match ban
Dhoni was handed a two-match ban from playing in the ODI series against Sri Lanka for the team's slow over-rate during the second one-dayer in Nagpur (18 December 2009) by ICC match referee Jeff Crowe.[59]

[edit] Cricket performance
[edit] ODI Cricket
ODI career records by opposition
# Opponent Matches Runs Average High Score 100s 50s Catches Stumping
1 Africa XI[60] 3 174 87.00 139* 1 0 3 3
2 Australia 23 690 43.12 124 1 3 26 9
3 Bangladesh 8 146 36.50 91* 0 1 9 6
4 Bermuda 1 29 29.00 29 0 0 1 0
5 England 18 501 33.40 96 0 3 19 7
6 Hong Kong 1 109 - 109* 1 0 1 3
7 New Zealand 9 269 67.25 84* 0 2 7 2
8 Pakistan 23 920 54.11 148 1 7 22 6
9 Scotland 1 - - - - - 2 -
10 South Africa 10 196 24.50 55 0 1 7 1
11 Sri Lanka 35 1370 61.80 183* 2 11 36 7
12 West Indies 18 499 49.90 95 0 3 16 4
13 Zimbabwe 2 123 123.00 67* 0 2 0 1
Total 152 5026 50.26 183* 5 34 149 51

ODI Centuries:

ODI centuries
# Runs Match Against Stadium City/Country Year
1 148 5 Pakistan ACA-VDCA Stadium Vishakapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India 2005
2 183* 22 Sri Lanka Sawai Mansingh Stadium Jaipur, Rajasthan, India 2005
3 139* 74 Africa XI[60] MA Chidambaram Stadium Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India 2007
4 109* 109 Hong Kong National Stadium Karachi, Pakistan 2008
5 124 143 Australia VCA Stadium, Jamtha Nagpur, India 2009
6 107 152 Srilanka VCA Stadium, Jamtha Nagpur, India 2009

[edit] ODI records
On 31 October 2005 Dhoni scored 183* runs of just 145 balls against Sri Lanka in Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. The following is the list of records created during the innings.[31]
The score of 183* is the highest in ODI cricket in the second innings (Earlier record: 153 by Lara).
The innings featured 10 Sixes, the most by an Indian in an Innings, and the second highest in ODI cricket (The highest is 11 by Sanath Jayasuriya and Shahid Afridi)
He broke Adam Gilchrist's record of 172 for the highest score made by a wicket keeper
The innings set the record for the most number of runs scored in boundaries (120 - 15x4; 10x6) breaking the record held by Saeed Anwar. The record was broken by Herschelle Gibbs (126 runs in boundaries - 21x4; 7x6) against Australia during his knock of 175.
The score of 183* equaled the record of the highest score against Sri Lanka in ODI cricket set by Ganguly during the 1999 Cricket World Cup.
Among Indian batsmen who have played more than 50 matches, Dhoni has the highest average.[61] Dhoni's batting average is also the highest amongst wicketkeepers in ODIs.
In June 2007, Dhoni(139*) and Mahela Jayawardene(107)[60] set a new world record for the sixth wicket partnership of 218 runs against Africa XI during the Afro-Asia Cup.[62]
Dhoni erased Shaun Pollock's record for the highest individual score by a number seven batsman in one-day internationals during his unbeaten innings of 139.[63] Incidentally, Pollock record stood for just three days as his score of 130 came in the first match of the 2007 Afro-Asia Cup while Dhoni's century came in the third and final match of the series.
Dhoni also holds the records of the most dismissals in an innings by an Indian wicketkeeper and joint International (with Adam Gilchrist) with 6 dismissals (5 catches and one stumping) against England at Headlingly 2 September 2007.
Dhoni holds the Indian record of most dismissals in ODIs. He went past Nayan Mongia's 154 for India on November 14 2008 when he caught Ian Bell off Zaheer Khan at Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground, Rajkot. However including 3 ODIs against Africa XI, his 155th dismissal was TM Dilshan caught off Munaf Patel at R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on 24th August, 2008.
Dhoni, when he was on four during his innings of 23 against Sri Lanka at R.Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Saturday, completed 4,000 runs in ODIs. Having already effected 165 dismissals (125 catches + 40 stumpings), Dhoni became the sixth wicketkeeper after Adam Gilchrist, Andy Flower, Alec Stewart, Mark Boucher and Kumar Sangakkara to complete the "double" of 4,000 runs and 100 dismissals in the history of ODIs. Dhoni’s feat of completing the "double" of 4,000 runs and 100 dismissals in only 114 innings is a world record. He is the youngest wicket-keeper batsman to do so (27 years and 208 days).
[edit] Man of the Series Awards
S No Series (Opponents) Season Series Performance
1 Sri Lanka in India ODI Series 2005/06 346 Runs (7 Matches & 5 Innings, 1x100, 1x50); 6 Catches & 3 Stumpings
2[64] India in Bangladesh ODI Series 2007 127 Runs (2 Matches & 2 Innings, 1x50); 1 Catches & 2 Stumpings
3 India in Sri Lanka ODI Series 2008 193 Runs (5 Matches & 5 Innings, 2x50); 3 Catches & 1 Stumping
4 India in West Indies ODI Series 2009 182 Runs (4 Matches & 3 Innings with an average of 91); 4 Catches & 1 Stumping

Man of the Match Awards:

S No Opponent Venue Season Match Performance
1 Pakistan Vishakapatnam 2004/05 148 (123b, 15x4, 4x6); 2 Catches
2 Sri Lanka Jaipur 2005/06 183* (145b, 15x4, 10x6); 1 Catch
3 Pakistan Lahore 2005/06 72 (46b, 12x4); 3 Catches
4 Bangladesh Mirpur 2007 91* (106b, 7x4); 1 Stumping
5 Africa XI[60] Chennai 2007 139* (97b, 15x4, 5x6); 3 Stumpings
6 Australia Chandigarh 2007 50* ( 35 b, 5x4 1x6); 2 Stumpings
7 Pakistan Guwahati 2007 63, 1 Stumping
8 Sri Lanka Karachi 2008 67, 2 Catches
9 Sri Lanka Colombo (RPS) 2008 76, 2 Catches
10 New Zealand McLean Park, Napier 2009 84*, 1 Catch & 1 Stumping
11 West Indies Beausejour Stadium, St. Lucia 2009 46*, 2 Catches & 1 Stumping
12 Australia Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur 2009 124, 1 Catches, 1 Stumping & 1 Runout

[edit] Test cricket
Test performance:

Test career records by opposition
# Opponents Matches Runs Average High Score 100s 50s Catches Stumpings
1 Australia 8 448 34.46 92 0 4 18 6
2 Bangladesh 2 104 104.00 51* 0 1 6 1
3 England 8 397 33.08 92 0 4 24 3
4 New Zealand 2 155 77.50 56* 0 2 11 1
5 Pakistan 5 323 64.60 148 1 2 9 1
6 South Africa 5 218 27.25 52 0 1 6 1
7 Sri Lanka 6 363 60.50 110 2 1 15 1
8 West Indies 4 168 24.00 69 0 1 13 4
Total 40 2176 40.29 148 3 16 102 18

Test centuries:

Test centuries
# Runs Match Against Stadium City/Country Year
1 148 5 Pakistan Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad, Pakistan 2006
2 110 38 Sri Lanka Sardar Patel Stadium Ahmedabad, India 2009
3 100* 40 Sri Lanka Brabourne Stadium Mumbai, India 2009

Man of the Match Awards:

S No Opponent Venue Season Match Performance
1 Australia Mohali 2008 92 & 68*

[edit] Test records
Dhoni's maiden century against Pakistan in Faisalabad (148) is the fastest century scored by an Indian wicket keeper. Only three centuries by two players (Kamran Akmal and Adam Gilchrist - 2) were faster than Dhoni's 93 ball century.[65]
Under Dhoni's captainship, India defeated Australia by 320 runs on 21st Oct'08, biggest ever win in terms of runs for India.[66]
Dhoni holds the record for most catches by an Indian player in an innings. He achieved this feat by taking six catches during the first innings of the third test against New Zealand in Wellington in April 2009.
Dhoni also equalled Syed Kirmani's record for most dismissals in an innings by an Indian wicket-keeper. Syed Kirmani has effected 6 dismissals (5 catches and 1 stumping) against New Zealand in 1976. Dhoni now has equalled that record for most dismissals with 6 dismissals (all 6 catches) against New Zealand in 2009.
Dhoni currently ranks third in the all-time dismissals list by Indian wicket-keepers. With the six dismissals in the first innings of the Test match against New Zealand in Auckland,April 2009, Dhoni has now been involved in 109 dismissals. The following is the list of top five Indian wicket-keepers, in terms of all-time dismissals in test matches: Syed Kirmani (198 dismissals), Kiran More (130 dismissals), Dhoni (109 dismissals), Nayan Mongia (107 dismissals) & Farokh Engineer (82 dismissals).
Dhoni is now the second wicketkeeper to have effected 6 dismissals in an innings apart from a fifty in each innings of a Test match. Denis Lindsay had accomplished the feat for South Africa against Australia at Johannesburg in December 1966 - 69 & 182 and 6 ct. + 2 ct.
Under Dhoni's captaincy, India reached their highest test score of 726-9 (decl) during Sri Lanka's tour of India in 2009. Their 2-0 victory in the series took them to the number 1 ranking in Test cricket for the first time in history.
Under Dhoni's captaincy, India has never lost a test match till date.