MS Dhoni, The Most Successful ODI Skipper Of All Time!

Despite some indifferent batting form and some ruggedness in his captaincy at times, Dhoni has proved that he remains the best bet for the Indian limited overs team at present....

- Bhavesh Bhimani

There is a reason that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the most talked about captain in recent cricketing history. He has evoked the kind of emotions in people across the globe that very few sports captains have managed to do. Admired and vilified in equal proportions, no one can really argue with the records that this man from Jharkhand has achieved. So humongous are his achievements as a captain that it will take quite some time for any other leader to even come close to him in the coming years. In fact, it can be said that MSD’s records as a captain are akin to batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s achievements as a batsmen: insurmountable.

Recently, the World Cup winning captain added another feather to his stupendous captaincy records. After beating Zimbabwe 3-0 in the recently concluded ODI series, he registered his 107th win as an ODI captain. With that, Dhoni also became the second most successful ODI skipper of all time; tied with Australian Allan Border. He is behind Ricky Ponting from Australia who sits at the top with a staggering 165 ODI victories under his belt.

Dhoni got his 107 victories from 194 matches. Ponting, meanwhile, got his 165 wins from 230 matches. With a winning percentage of close to 60, Dhoni’s record is truly amazing. One can understand how Ponting, with all the legends he had in his team, registered his wins. But Dhoni has mostly led a team rich in great batsmen but below-par bowlers. And yet, he has managed such an impressive feat which is really laudable.