MS Dhoni retirement: Top 10 interesting facts about CSK captain's life and career

Former Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni on Sunday, announced his retirement from international cricket after a glorious career spanning nearly 16 years. The veteran stumper, who called it quits from the longest format of the game in 2014, decided to hang his boots from the limited-overs formats as well. However, Dhoni is expected to keep playing for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

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MS Dhoni retirement: Top 10 interesting facts about the CSK captain

Dhoni announced his retirement through a video on Instagram which featured the top moments of his cricketing journey since making his debut in 2004. He captioned the video, "Thanks. Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. From 1929 hrs consider me as Retired." As MS Dhoni bids adieu to the game, let's take a look at the top 10 interesting facts about the legendary cricketer.

1. MS Dhoni's first love wasn't cricket

Before taking up cricket full-time, MS Dhoni excelled in football. The CSK captain was a brilliant goalkeeper and his skills in football caught the attention of his childhood coach Keshav Banerjee, who urged him to try his hand at cricket and wicketkeeping. This was also shown in the 2016 Dhoni biopic which starred the late Sushant Singh Rajput. However, his love for football continues till date as he is the co-owner for Indian Super League club Chennaiyin FC.

2. MS Dhoni's first job

Dhoni was a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) at Kharagpur railway station from 2001 to 2003, under South Eastern Railway in Midnapore. However, he could not juggle with cricket and work for long and gave up the job to focus solely on cricket.

3. MS Dhoni's favourite food

The CSK captain is a big foodie. His favourite dishes are Butter Chicken and Chicken Biryani, something which he has also revealed on his Twitter bio and he also enjoys hot chocolate fudge.

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4. MS Dhoni's favourite singer

The 39-year-old is an ardent listener of retro songs. MS Dhoni has mentioned on several occasions that he is a massive Kishore Kumar fan. One of his favourites is the classic and meaningful Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shaayar Hoon, which he even sang once in an interactive event with fans last year. Ironically, the 39-year-old used the same song in his retirement video.

5. MS Dhoni's love for bikes

It is no secret that Dhoni is extremely passionate about bikes. His love for bikes started from his teenage and he now has an amazing collection of bikes ranging from vintage bikes to the modern ones. In the past, late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who played the reel role of MS Dhoni in his biopic, had revealed that the MS Dhoni bikes collection count was at 74 with the likes of the Ducati 1098, Kawasaki Ninja ZX14R, Harley Davidson Fatboy and the Yamaha YZF600 Thundercat in his possession.

6. The ICC treble

Dhoni is the only captain in world cricket to win all three ICC trophies (T20 World Cup 2007, Cricket World Cup 2011 and Champions Trophy 2013).

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7. Highest ODI score by a wicketkeeper-batsman

Dhoni scored an unbeaten 183 against Sri Lanka in Jaipur in 2005, which is the highest score by a wicketkeeper in ODI cricket. The CSK skipper struck 15 fours and five sixes while facing 145 deliveries in a successful chase of 299.

8. Highest Test score by an Indian wicket-keeper

MS Dhoni's 224 against Australia in the Chennai Test in 2013 is the second-highest score by an Indian captain. While he was on his way to score 224, Dhoni registered the highest Test score by an Indian wicketkeeper when he was on 193. He surpassed Budhi Kunderan (192), who was the holder of the record previously.

9. Most stumpings in international cricket

Dhoni is known to be the best and the fastest wicket-keeper in the game. The CSK captain has affected a record 195 stumpings in 538 matches across formats. He is followed by Kumar Sangakkara (139) at second and Romesh Kaluwitharana (101) at third.

10. Most IPL final appearances

MS Dhoni is the only cricketer to feature in eight IPL finals. The former India captain has won the tournament thrice with CSK in 2010, 2011 and 2018. He is also the only captain till date to defend the title successfully.

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IMAGE COURTESY: TWITTER/ DHONIISM