1st T20I: India captain MS Dhoni sets another world record

Dharamsala, Oct 2: MS Dhoni achieved another milestone in his international career when he captained India in the 1st Twenty20 International against South Africa here tonight.

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When Dhoni walked out for the toss at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) Stadium on Friday night, he became the first player in T20I history to captain in 50 matches.

The 34-year-old Dhoni, who first led India in a T20I in 2007, has won more than 50 per cent of the matches as a skipper. In 49 games before today, he achieved success in 26 and lost 21. One was tied (won via bowl-out against Pakistan) and 1 was no result.

Today's T20I was the first for Dhoni as captain after more than a year. The last for him and India was against England in September, 2014. Since then, they were involved in ODIs and Tests.

Dhoni has so far played 51 T20Is (including today's), the most for India. The only game he did not captain was in his and Team India's debut in the shortest format against South Africa in Johannesburg on December 1, 2006. Virender Sehwag was the skipper and India won by 6 wickets with 1 ball remaining.

In his first assignment as T20I captain, Dhoni led India to World Tweny20 title in South Africa. They beat Pakistan in the final.

Dhoni, who retired from Test cricket last December, is one of the best captains in the world. He is the only skipper to have won all 3 ICC trophies - World T20 (2007), World Cup (2011) and Champions Trophy (2013).

It was a special half century for Dhoni in Dharamsala and he will be hoping to making extra special with a victory.

Most T20I matches as captain (Top 5) - As on October 2, 2015

50 - MS Dhoni (India)

41 - William Porterfield (Ireland)

39 - Darren Sammy (West Indies)

30 - Paul Collingwood (England)

29 - Peter Borren (The Netherlands), Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Afridi (both Pakistan)

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