MS Dhoni Captaincy Record (Tests, ODIs, T20Is, and IPL) – A Statistical Analysis

MS Dhoni is one of the best captains of all time.

CricBouncer DeskMarch 15, 2023Last Updated: March 15, 2023

301 3 minutes read

MS Dhoni – arguably the second-most popular name in the world of cricket after Sachin Tendulkar. A name that brings out emotions of the cricket fans, a name that sends millions of fans worldwide in nostalgia. After a glorious career, MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on 15th August 2020 through an Instagram post.

If we talk about his career, he is the greatest wicketkeeper-batter to play the game of cricket. He is one of the best finishers the game has ever seen. Most importantly, he is the greatest-ever Indian skipper and one of the world’s best skippers in white-ball cricket. Known for his cool frame on the field, MS Dhoni used to pull off moments of brilliance with his captaincy. He remained captain of the Indian cricket team for a decade across the formats and took Men in Blue to greater heights.

India won three major ICC championships under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. India won ICC T20 World Cup 2007, ICC World Cup 2011, and ICC Champions Trophy 2013 with Dhoni at the helm. Dhoni’s last game as India’s captain came in 2018 against Afghanistan in an Asia Cup match. Coincidently, it was also his 200th match as India’s ODI captain.

Meanwhile, in this post, we will take a closer look at MS Dhoni’s captaincy record in all formats, including Tests, ODIs, T20Is, and IPL.

MS Dhoni captaincy record in Tests

MSD captained India in 60 matches and won 27 of them. Under his captaincy, India lost 18 Test matches, while 15 Tests ended up as a draw. MS Dhoni had an impeccable record at home as a skipper as India won 21 matches at home. However, he always faced criticism as India didn’t perform as per expectations in SENA countries in Tests under Dhoni.

Meanwhile, MS Dhoni is India’s 2nd most-successful Test skipper behind Virat Kohli. He is also the only 2nd-ever skipper of India to win a Test series in New Zealand. Furthermore, he became India’s first Test skipper to take India to the number one position in the Test rankings and their reign lasted for 21 months.

In 2013, MS Dhoni became the only 4th skipper in the world to whitewash Australia in Test cricket after winning the home series 4-0. The wicketkeeper-batter has also scored the 2nd-most runs for India as the Test skipper.

Number of Matches Played	60
Matches won	27
Matches lost	18
Draws	15
Winning Percentage	45%

MS Dhoni captaincy record in ODIs

MS Dhoni is India’s most successful ODI skipper ever and one of the most successful in the world. He captained India in a whopping 200 ODIs and won 110 matches out of those. India lost 74 ODIs under his leadership, while 16 games were ended-up as a no-result.

MS Dhoni is the 2nd most successful ODI captain of all time as only Ricky Ponting (165 wins) has won more ODIs as the captain than the former India skipper. Furthermore, he has captained India in the most number of games and third-most overall as Ricky Ponting had captained Australia in 230 matches and Stephen Fleming captained New Zealand in 218 matches.

India won the World Cup 2011 and the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. He is the only 2nd Indian captain after Kapil Dev to win the World Cup, while he is only the 2nd skipper ever to win the ICC Champions Trophy and the World Cup.

Number of Matches Played	200
Matches won	110
Matches lost	74
NR/Tie	16
Winning Percentage	55%

MS Dhoni captaincy record in T20Is

MS Dhoni is also India’s most successful skipper in T20I cricket. He has captained India across 72 T20I matches and emerged as the winner 41 times. India lost 28 T20I games under his leadership, while only three games ended up as a tie or no result.

MSD led India across the most number of T20I games as Virat Kohli is way behind him in that aspect. With 41 wins, he is India’s most successful T20I skipper so far as the wicketkeeper-batter had a winning percentage of 58.33 as a captain.

Furthermore, India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007 under MS Dhoni. Dhoni is the only man in history to win ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup, and ICC Champions Trophy as the skipper.

Number of Matches Played	74
Matches won	41
Matches lost	28
NR/Tie	3
Winning Percentage	58.33%

MS Dhoni captaincy record in IPL

MS Dhoni has captained Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiants in his IPL career. He has played 210 matches as a captain in the IPL and has won 123 of them. He has lost 86 matches as the skipper, while one game ended up with no result.

MSD has played the most number of matches as the skipper as Rohit Sharma is next on the list with 143 wins. Meanwhile, he has won the most number of matches (123) as well.

Furthermore, MS Dhoni has won 4 IPL championships as the skipper and he is only behind Rohit Sharma in this regard as the latter has won 5 IPL championships. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has played 10 IPL finals – the most by any skipper in the completion.