Know how many World Cups MS Dhoni played in during his legendary career

MS Dhoni is one of the most successful and influential cricketers in limited-over formats.

Having made an instant impact in the One-Day International (ODI) format, MS Dhoni later made his ODI World Cup debut in the West Indies in 2007.

In the 2007 ICC World Cup, India were placed in Group B alongside Bangladesh, Bermuda and Sri Lanka.

Led by Rahul Dravid, the Indian cricket team started their campaign with a disappointing five-wicket defeat against Bangladesh. 

The Men in Blue later bounced back to thrash Bermuda by 257 runs in their second Group B fixture.

In a must-win fixture against Sri Lanka, India went down by 69 runs to crash out of the tournament.

On the personal front, Dhoni also had a disappointing World Cup as he scored just 29 runs in three matches including two ducks.

Later in 2007, Dhoni succeeded Rahul Dravid as ODI captain of team India.

Meanwhile, Dhoni guided India to the first-ever ICC T20 World Cup title by defeating Pakistan in the final in 2007.

Four years later, Dhoni led the Indian cricket team to the 2011 ICC World Cup title held in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. With the win, India clinched their second ODI World Cup title after Kapil Dev’s men had won it in 1983.

How many World Cup Dhoni played

MS Dhoni featured in four editions of the ODI World Cup in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019. He also played six editions of the T20 World Cup in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2016, winning the first-ever edition of the tournament in 2007 in South Africa.

Having guided the Indian team to the ODI World Cup title after 28 years, Dhoni once again led the side at the 2015 ICC World Cup jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

Dhoni-led India reached the semi-finals before losing to eventual champions Australia by 95 runs.

The legendary wicketkeeper-batter was also part of the Indian squad at the 2019 ICC World Cup held in England and Wales.

Under the leadership of Virat Kohli, India were knocked out in the semi-finals as they succumbed to a heartbreaking 18-run defeat against New Zealand.

Interestingly, this was Dhoni’s last ODI as he later announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket in August 2020.

Between 2007 and 2019, MS Dhoni scored 780 runs in 29 ODI World Cup matches at an average of 43.33 and a strike rate of 89.96. 

After managing just 29 runs in his first ODI World Cup in 2007, Dhoni scored 241 runs in the 2011 edition of the tournament and followed it up by scoring 237 and 273 runs respectively in the 2015 and 2019 editions of the ODI World Cup.

He slammed five fifties in the 50-over showpiece events over the course of his career, including a best score of an unbeaten 79-ball 91 against Sri Lanka in the final of the 2011 World Cup where he led India to the coveted trophy.

He also amassed 529 runs in 33 T20 World Cup matches at an average of 35.26 and a strike rate of 123.88. 

Dhoni will go down in the history books as the first captain to claim both the ODI and T20 World Cups. 

Photo credit: Alamy