IPL 2021: 3 milestones MS Dhoni can reach 

MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will face defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in Dubai on September 19 to mark the resumption of IPL 2021.

After a forgettable IPL 2020, Dhoni’s boys made a comeback in this year’s event, before the T20 league was postponed due to COVID-19. CSK won five of the seven matches they have played, losing two, and will resume the tournament in second position in the points table.

While Dhoni continued to impress as captain, he did nothing of note with the bat in the first set of games. In four innings, he scored 37 runs, with a top score of 18. Behind the stumps, he took five catches.

---

Can Dhoni cross these landmarks in IPL 2021?

Dhoni, who turned 40 last month, might well be featuring in his farewell IPL season. We take a look at some milestones he can achieve in the remainder of IPL 2021.

---

#1 200 matches as IPL captain

MS Dhoni is among the most successful captains in IPL

Dhoni already holds the record for most matches as captain in the league. He has led in 195 games, so far, out of which he has won 115 and lost 79, giving him a win percentage of 59.27.

Five more matches will take him to 200 IPL games. While Dhoni has captained CSK for the majority of his IPL career, he led the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiants in a handful of games when the Chennai-based franchise were suspended.

Virat Kohli is a distant second in terms of the number of matches captaining IPL teams. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper is at 132 matches. He has won 60 and lost 64, giving him a win percentage of 48.04.

Apart from Dhoni and Kohli, only Gautam Gambhir (129) and Rohit Sharma (123) have led in more than 100 matches in the IPL.

---

#2 300 matches as captain in T20 cricket

Rohit Sharma has picked up five IPL trophies as MI skipper while Dhoni has captained CSK to three titles

Apart from the IPL, Dhoni also holds the record for having played the most matches as T20 captain. In his overall T20 career, he has led in 291 games, out of which he has won 171 and lost 115. His win percentage as a skipper in T20 matches is close to 60 percent.

If Dhoni leads CSK in all the remaining seven group matches and at least two playoff games (provided CSK qualify), he will extend his record to 300 matches in the format.

Former West Indies skipper Daren Sammy (208) is second on the list of players who have led in most T20 games. Sammy has won 104 matches as captain while losing 97. The Indian trio of Kohli (177), Gambhir (170) and Rohit (147) complete the top five.

---

#3 7000 runs in T20 cricket

Dhoni can scored over 6800 runs in T20 cricket

Dhoni is 142 runs away from completing 7000 runs in T20 cricket. In 338 matches, he has amassed 6858 runs at a strike rate of 134.89 with 27 half-centuries. If Dhoni manages a couple of decent knocks, he might be able to cross the 7000-run landmark.

Among Indians, only Kohli (9929), Rohit (9315), Suresh Raina (8617), Shikhar Dhawan (8568) and Robin Uthappa (6861) have scored more runs than Dhoni in T20 cricket.

Gambhir (6402) and Dinesh Karthik (6183) are the other Indians with over 6000 T20 runs, while Manish Pandey (5944) is all set to join the club.

Cue-ri that never gets missed! #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/rMmoNpvBtm

— Chennai Super Kings - Mask P😷du Whistle P🥳du! (@ChennaiIPL) August 14, 2021

West Indies legend Chris Gayle is the leading run-getter in T20 cricket. He has smashed 14,096 runs from 437 games, maintaining an amazing strike rate of 146.10. Apart from Gayle, only three batters have scored over 10,000 runs in T20 cricket -- Kieron Pollard (10,898), Shoaib Malik (10,741) and David Warner (10,017).