MS Dhoni’s cricket records: the milestones that define his career

Few cricketers own a record list that reads quite like MS Dhoni’s. He is the only captain to have lifted all three major ICC white-ball trophies, he holds the most stumpings in one-day history, and he built a finishing reputation that changed how India closed out run chases. This is a rundown of the numbers that frame his career, across captaincy, wicketkeeping, batting and the IPL.

Dhoni retired from international cricket in August 2020 with 17,266 runs across formats and a trophy cabinet no other captain can match. The records below are the ones that come up most often when his name does.

What are MS Dhoni’s biggest cricket records?

The headline three: he is the only captain in history to win the T20 World Cup, the 50-over World Cup and the Champions Trophy; he has the most stumpings of any wicketkeeper in one-day internationals; and he captained more international matches than anyone else. Each of those sits at the top of its category, and none looks like being beaten soon.

The captaincy records that set Dhoni apart

Dhoni led India in 332 international matches, more than any other captain in the game’s history, ahead of Ricky Ponting. That total splits into 60 Tests, 200 ODIs and 72 T20Is. He won 178 of those games, a haul that includes 27 Test wins, 110 in ODIs and 41 in T20Is.

His numbers as an ODI captain stand out most. No wicketkeeper has led a side in one-day cricket as often or as successfully. He also won 14 matches at 50-over World Cups, the most by any India captain, and India’s run to the top of the ICC Test rankings in December 2009, a position they held for close to two years, happened on his watch too.

The only captain to win all three ICC trophies

This is the record most often called unbreakable. Dhoni is the only captain to have won the three main ICC white-ball titles, and he did it across a six-year span:

• 2007 ICC World T20: India beat Pakistan in the final in Johannesburg, in what was Dhoni’s first major assignment as captain.
• 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup: India beat Sri Lanka in the Mumbai final, with Dhoni promoting himself up the order and finishing unbeaten on 91 to take the man-of-the-match award.
• 2013 ICC Champions Trophy: India beat England in a rain-shortened final at Edgbaston to complete the set.

Winning one of these is a career. Winning all three, as a captain who also kept wicket and batted in the middle order, is why the treble gets described the way it does.

What are MS Dhoni’s wicketkeeping records?

Behind the stumps is where Dhoni holds his most secure numbers. His 123 stumpings in ODIs are the most by any wicketkeeper in the format, and no one else has passed 100. He also holds the T20I record with 34 stumpings, and he made 38 more in Tests, which adds up to 195 international stumpings in all.

The full dismissal counts are just as heavy. In ODIs he took 444 dismissals, made up of 321 catches and those 123 stumpings. In T20Is his 91 dismissals are the most by any keeper in the format. In Tests he finished with 294 dismissals from 256 catches and 38 stumpings. His speed did the rest of the talking. He is credited with the fastest stumping on record, clocked at 0.08 seconds when he removed West Indies’ Keemo Paul, the kind of glovework that turned half-chances into wickets before batsmen knew the danger.

Dhoni’s batting and finishing records

Dhoni’s unbeaten 183 against Sri Lanka in Jaipur in October 2005 is still the highest individual ODI score by a wicketkeeper. He faced 145 balls that day and hit 15 fours and 10 sixes, batting at number three early in his career before the finisher’s role became his own.

That finishing role produced its own set of numbers. He was left not out 84 times in his ODI innings, a reflection of how often he was still there at the end of a chase, and he was the first Indian batsman to clear 200 sixes in one-day cricket. He finished with 10,773 ODI runs at an average above 50, rare territory for a middle-order batsman who so often ran out of partners rather than deliveries. His calm in the closing overs, the ability to take a game to the last ball and back himself, is the part of his batting that gets talked about long after the raw totals.

MS Dhoni’s IPL records

The IPL chapter is still being written through Chennai Super Kings, but the leadership records are already among the biggest in the tournament. Dhoni has captained more IPL matches than anyone and won more of them than any other captain. He has led CSK to five titles, in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023, which ties the record for most IPL trophies as a captain.

He is also the only captain to reach the IPL final ten times, five wins and five runners-up finishes, a run of consistency that turned CSK into the tournament’s benchmark franchise. For all the international silverware, the yellow jersey has given his career a long second act.

MS Dhoni’s records at a glance

Record	Number
International matches as captain	332 (most ever)
Wins as captain	178
ICC white-ball trophies as captain	3 (2007, 2011, 2013)
ODI stumpings	123 (most ever)
Total international stumpings	195
ODI dismissals	444
Highest ODI score by a keeper	183* v Sri Lanka, 2005
IPL titles as captain	5 (joint-most)

Set against a player like Virat Kohli, whose records are built on volume and run-scoring, Dhoni’s stand out for their breadth: captaincy, glovework and finishing all at once. For more on the modern run machine, see our rundown of Virat Kohli’s cricket records, and for the milestones on the women’s side, our look at the biggest numbers in women’s cricket.

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