New Delhi : Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni celebrates his 39th birthday on Tuesday. The wicketkeeper-batsman, who is regarded as one of the most successful captains of the Indian cricket team, has been away from the cricket field for nearly a year, and yet conversations about his return, or future retirement have never died out. Such is the stature of the man known by the moniker ‘Captain Cool’ that fans continue to wait with bated breath and hope that they would get to see Dhoni donning the Indian jersey at least one more time.

Dhoni is regarded as the most successful Indian captain as his achievements remain unmatched. After his feat of leading India to the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy title, he became the first (and remains still the only captain) to lift the Champions Trophy as well as the ICC T20 World Cup (2007) and ICC ODI World Cup (2011).

After he took over the team’s reigns in 2007, the Dhoni-led Indian team became the world No. 1 Test team for the first time in 2009.
The Government of India has awarded Dhoni the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna (2007), the Padma Shri (2009) and the Padma Bhushan (2018) for his contribution to sport. He was also named the ICC ODI Player of the Year for two consecutive years (2008 and 2009).