Legendary cricketer and former India captain MS Dhoni turned 44 on Monday. He celebrated his birthday at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) premises in Ranchi. The video of his celebration went viral on social media. Known for his frugal lifestyle, Dhoni kept the celebration low-key and shared the moment with a handful of JSCA staff, including president Ajay Nath Shahdeo, at the stadium complex. Dhoni, wearing a sleeveless black t-shirt, cut the cake at the JSCA office. He then distributed the cake among everyone.

Meanwhile, in Vijayawada, celebrations of Dhoni's birthday began a day earlier. In a video that went viral on social media on Saturday (July 6), a huge crowd assembled with posters of Dhoni in Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and South Indian outfits. Dhoni, who had won five Indian Premier League (IPL) titles with CSK, enjoys a massive fan following in the southern part of India, mainly because of his successful stint with CSK since 2008.

Dhoni remains one of the most successful captains in international cricket. He led India in 332 matches across three formats - Tests, ODIs, and T20Is - and won a whopping 178 matches while losing 120. Dhoni is a three-time ICC trophy-winning India captain. Under his captaincy, India won the inaugural 2007 World T20 in South Africa, the 2011 World Cup in India, and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy in England.

In the last season of the IPL, Dhoni, who had quit the captaincy before the start of IPL 2024, had to take over the CSK captaincy again after Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled out due to a hairline fracture to the elbow.

Having made his India debut in 2004, Dhoni led India in 200 ODIs, winning 110 and losing 74. Five games were tied, while 11 failed to produce a result. He scored 17,266 runs in 538 matches across the three formats. Dhoni also effected 829 dismissals.

Known for his exploits in ODI cricket, Dhoni played 350 ODIs, scoring 10,773 runs at an average of 50.57. He scored 10 centuries and 73 fifties for India. Dhoni also played 98 T20Is for India, scoring 1,617 runs at an average of 37.60, with a strike rate of 126.13. He led India in 72 T20Is, winning 41, losing 28, one being tied and two failing to produce results. Dhoni also played 90 Tests, scoring 4876 runs at an average of 38.09.