On Sunday (3 February), the former Indian World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni achieved another milestone. This time he became the player to play the third most number of ODI matches for India. Surpassing Mohammad Azharuddin‘s record of playing 334 ODIs for India, the Indian wicket-keeper played his 335th ODI for the nation.
After missing two previous ODIs of the five-match ODI series against the hosts New Zealand, MS Dhoni returned to the last ODI of the series on Sunday at Westpac Stadium (Wellington). He missed the previous two ODIs due to a sore hamstring. Playing the Wellington ODI, he surpassed Mohammad Azharuddin in the list of the number of ODI matches played for the Indian national cricket team.
Now, there are only two players who are ahead of MS Dhoni in this list. Only Rahul Dravid (340 ODIs) and Sachin Tendulkar (463 ODIs) played more ODIs for India than him.
Top 10 players who have played most No. of ODI matches for India
| Player | Number of ODI matches |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 463 |
| Rahul Dravid | 340 |
| MS Dhoni | 335 |
| Mohammad Azharuddin | 334 |
| Sourav Ganguly | 308 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 301 |
| Anil Kumble | 269 |
| Virender Sehwag | 241 |
| Harbhajan Singh | 234 |
| Javagal Singh | 229 |
11th most number of ODI matches player
However, it was MS Dhoni’s 338th ODI. He played three ODIs for Asia XI in the 2007 Afro-Asia Cup. So, in overall, the Indian wicketkeeper-batsman is at the 11th number to play most number of ODI matches. Apart from the former Australian captain Ricky Ponting, all other cricketers, who are ahead of MS Dhoni in this overall list, are Asian.
Moreover, at present, MS Dhoni has played second most ODIs as a wicketkeeper. Only, the former Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara is ahead in this list, Though he played 404 ODIs, he was designated wicketkeeper in 360 ODIs.
On the other hand, MS Dhoni has played 521 international matches – most by a wicketkeeper, seventh-most in overall. While Sachin Tendulkar is leading this list too with 664 international games, the Indian wicketkeeper is the next Indian to play most international matches.