M.S. Dhoni, full name Mahendra Singh Dhoni, is an Indian cricketer who rose to prominence in the early twenty-first century, culminating in his captaincy of the Indian national team that won the one-day Cricket World Cup in 2011.
In 2004, Dhoni made his international debut. In his fifth international match, he scored 148 runs against Pakistan, demonstrating his batsmanship. He joined the Indian Test team a year later, quickly establishing himself with a century (100 runs or more in a single inning) against Pakistan. Despite his lack of experience, Dhoni took over as captain of India's one-day team in 2007 and led them to the World Twenty20 (T20) Championship. India ascended to the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings for the first time in December 2009, thanks to series victories over Australia and Sri Lanka, among others. In 2008 and 2009, Dhoni received the ICC One Day International Player of the Year Award for his efforts. Dhoni's dazzling 91-run innings in front of a home crowd in Mumbai in the 2011 one-day World Cup final paved the way for India's victory over Sri Lanka. In addition, he led India to the semifinals of the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Dhoni retired as India's captain in 2017, after captaining the country in 331 international matches, the most by any captain in the sport's history.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) was established in 2008 as a result of the boom of T20 cricket on the Indian subcontinent. Dhoni signed a $1.5 million deal with the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL's inaugural season, which was the biggest contract in the league at the time. He then led the team to two consecutive championships (2010, 2011). In 2016, the IRL suspended the Super Kings for two seasons for their involvement in a match-fixing scandal, and Dhoni joined the Rising Pune Supergiant. He returned to the Chennai Super Kings in 2018, and the team won the IPL championship that year.