Former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni celebrates his 43rd birthday on Sunday, July 7.
The most decorated Indian captain in history who has won all the major ICC trophies - which include the T20 World Cup (2007), ODI World Cup (2011) and the ICC Champions Trophy (2013) - turns a year older today.
Dhoni's international career spanned 16 years between 2004 to 2020 where he enriched with his talismanic leadership on and off the pitch.
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The Ranchi-born player has scored the second most number of runs in ODI cricket among wicketkeepers after Kumar Kumarsangakkara and is only the second wicketkeeper-batsman to score more than 10,000 runs in 50 overs cricket.
While Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2020, he is still active for Chennai Super Kings. Dhoni relinquished his captaincy at CSK before IPL 2024.
As Indian cricketing great turns a year older we take a look at some of the nicknames bestowed upon him fondly by his fans and peers.
MORE: MS Dhoni's rise in Indian Cricket
What are the nicknames of Mahendra Singh Dhoni?
1) 'Mahi' or 'Maahi'
This nickname is a shortened version of his actual name Mahendra. He has been addressed by this name since his childhood by his family and friends and later his peers and his fans when he became a professional.
While speaking about his nickname, Dhoni had once said,
My nickname is Maahi, it used to be Mahii but it was half of my full name but everybody started calling me Maahi so I thought it’s better off with one name. So I change it to Maahi.
2) 'MS'
The nickname 'MS' was bestowed upon him by colleagues in the Indian dressing room after he started representing the Indian team. It is the initials of his first and middle name Mahendra Singh.
MORE: When did Dhoni play his last international match?
3) 'MSD'
As Dhoni grew in stature in international cricket, the cricketing fraternity started calling him by his full initials MSD (Mahendra Singh Dhoni).
4) 'Captain Cool'
Dhoni also goes by the name 'Captain Cool' which his fans across the globe fondly call him because of his calm and composed appearance on the field.
5) 'Thala'
The last and possibly the most popular nickname of the legendary cricketer is 'Thala' which the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fans conferred on him, the iconic, 'Thala'. The word 'Thala' in Tamil roughly translates to leader or boss in English.
It is no surprise that a man who has helped to achieve impeccable success in the last 16 years is greatly appreciated by the people of Tamil Nadu and he is considered one of them.