On This Day in 2020: MS Dhoni Became the First Player to Feature in 200 IPL Matches

ON THIS DAY IN 2020: With five Indian Premier League (IPL) titles under his belt, MS Dhoni is the joint-most successful skipper in the history of the competition. Chennai Super Kings, under the leadership of Dhoni, achieved Mumbai Indians’ record of winning five IPL titles earlier this year in 2023.

Chennai defeated last year’s champions Gujarat Titans in the final to clinch the IPL 2023 championship. Dhoni became the first cricketer in the history of the competition to lead a franchise in 200 matches. He is also the only player in IPL history to have featured in 250 matches.

On this day in 2020, the World Cup-winning legendary India captain became the first cricketer to take part in 200 IPL matches. Dhoni achieved this remarkable feat during a fixture against Rajasthan Royals in Abu Dhabi.

The match against Rajasthan, however, did not turn out to be quite fruitful for Dhoni fans as Chennai had to concede a defeat in that fixture. Dhoni played a breezy knock of 28 in as many deliveries to guide Chennai to a respectable total of 125. Star India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja emerged as Chennai’s highest scorer in that game having played an unbeaten knock of 35 off 30 balls.

Rajasthan’s Jos Buttler came up with a sublime unbeaten knock of 48-ball 70 to help his side clinch a seven-wicket win. Rajasthan scored the winning runs with 15 balls to spare.

Overall, the IPL 2020 campaign proved to be a disappointing for Chennai Super Kings as they failed to qualify for the playoffs. Chennai had finished their IPL 2020 journey at the seventh spot.

Meanwhile, MS Dhoni has been a part of the Chennai squad since the inaugural season of IPL in 2008. Apart from Chennai, Dhoni plied his trade for Rising Pune Supergiant in 30 IPL matches. He donned the Pune jersey in 2016 and 2017 IPL seasons when Chennai were serving suspension.

Having played 250 IPL matches, Dhoni has scored 5082 runs at an average of 38.79. Dhoni enjoys a sensational strike rate of 135.92 in IPL. He has so far scored 24 half centuries in the competition. In terms of captaincy records, Dhoni has recorded 133 wins so far as the leader of a franchise. His IPL win percentage as a captain is an astonishing 58.84.