IPL 2017: MS Dhoni Becomes First Indian To Appear In 250 T20s
Apr 9, 2017 at 10:45 AM
Former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has added another feather to his already illustrious cap when he played for Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) in the fourth match of this year’s Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on Saturday (April 8).
The 35-year old World Cup-winning skipper has now become the first Indian player to lay 250 Twenty20 matches. Suresh Raina is the second in the list with 246 T20 appearances.
The monumental match, meanwhile, was not a memorable one for both Dhoni as well as his team. The right-handed batsman could manage only 5 runs off 11 balls while his team suffered a heavy 6-wicket loss against Kings XI Punjab. Batting first Rising Pune Supergiant scored 163 for 6 in the allotted overs but Kings XI Punjab, led by their skipper Glenn Maxwell’s unbeaten 44, chased down the total with one over remaining.
https://twitter.com/RPSupergiants/status/850668030766067713
Dhoni made his T20 debut against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2006. In 250 games so far, the right-handed batsman has aggregated 5,068 runs at an average of 37.54 including 19 fifties. He is also second in the list of most IPL appearances behind Suresh Raina. Dhoni has played 145 matches so far compared to Raina’s 148.
One of the most successful skippers of all time, Dhoni led India to the title in the inaugural World T20 in South Africa in 2007.
He is also one of the most successful skippers in the history of the Indian Premier League. He led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to 2 titles in 2010 and 2011. He also took them to Champions League (CLT20) trophies in 2010 and 2014. Later, Dhoni was signed by the Pune-based outfit after CSK were suspended for a couple of years due to corruption charges. They will return to IPL next year.
Here is a list of top 5 Indian players with most T20 appearances (as on April 8, 2017):
Name | Matches |
MS Dhoni | 250 |
Suresh Raina | 246 |
Rohit Sharma | 237 |
Gautam Gambhir | 221 |
Harbhajan Singh | 218 |
Yusuf Pathan | 218 |
*Stats are up to April 09, 2017.