Legendary India captain Mahendra Singh (MS) Dhoni celebrated his 41st birthday on Thursday. While several current and former cricketers wished ‘Mahi' on his birthday, three posts stood for their admiration for the now-retired batting stalwart. If Hardik Pandya called MS Dhoni “darling”, Virat Kohli declared him as his “elder brother”. On the other hand, ex-India opener Virender Sehwag, who played under MS Dhoni‘s captaincy for a long time, said the Indian cricket team was “fortunate” to have Dhoni as the captain.

 

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“My darling, Wishing you the best birthday Mahi bhai,” Hardik Pandya tweeted.

“Till the time full stop doesn't come, a sentence isn't completed. Till the time Dhoni is at the crease, match isn't completed. Not all teams have the fortune to have a person like Dhoni, Happy B'day to a gem of a person & player, MS Dhoni. Om Helicopteraya Namaha,” Virender Sehwag posted on the micro-blogging platform.

“A leader like no other. Thanks for everything you have done for Indian cricket. You became more like an elder brother for me. Nothing but love and respect always. Happy birthday skip,” Virat Kohli wrote on Instagram.

 

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Several other former cricketers from around the world, specifically from India shared their birthday wishes for MS Dhoni on social media.

“Wishing a fine leader, teammate and friend a very happy birthday! Have a great one, MS Dhoni,” Sachin Tendulkar tweeted.

“The cricket world is brighter only because of you! Wishing you a very Happy Birthday Mahi Bhai,” India opener Shikhar Dhawan said.

“A guide, confidante and leader. Thank you for everything you’ve done for Indian cricket. Happy birthday Mahi bhai, I hope you have a day as special as you,” India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah who recently led the national team in the fifth and the final Test against England stated.

“A mentor and a brother. Happy birthday Mahi Bhai. Your guidance will always be with me and I wish you good health and happiness,” India spinner Kuldeep Yadav said on a social network.

“Happy Birthday to my big brother. Thank you for being my biggest supporter and mentor in every phase of life, may God bless you and your family with good health always. Much love to you Mahi bhai. Wishing you a great year ahead!” tweeted former India cricketer Suresh Raina.

“Still remember this day very fondly, thank you for everything Mahi bhai!! Best wishes to you on your birthday, have a great year ahead,” Veteran India speedster Ishant Sharma said.

MS Dhoni is widely considered as one of the greatest captains in cricket. The all-time great was known for remaining cool as a cucumber under pressure, thus earning himself the epithet of “Captain Cool” from his legion of supporters.

To date, MS Dhoni remains the only captain to win all the International Cricket Council (ICC) titles, namely T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup, and the Champions Trophy, having captured all these trophies in 2007, 2011, and 2013 respectively.

In addition to his superlative captaincy record in white-ball cricket, MS Dhoni-led Team India to the top of the rankings in Test cricket, a milestone he and his boys achieved in 2009.

Many former cricketers, including ex-Australia captain Ricky Ponting regard MS Dhoni as the greatest finisher in One-Day Internationals (ODIs), the 50-over format of the game.

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MS Dhoni scored 10773 runs in 350 ODIs at an excellent average of 50.57, including 10 hundreds and 73 half-centuries.

In the Indian Premier League (IPL), MS Dhoni has been synonymous with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), having captained the Tamil Nadu-based outfit to four titles in the elite T20 competition.

MS Dhoni is currently vacationing in the United Kingdom (UK) and was snapped at Wimbledon's Centre Court where he watched his favorite tennis star Rafael Nadal's five-set victory over Taylor Fritz of the United States on Wednesday.

Dhoni's last cricketing assignment was this year's IPL, where he returned as CSK after Ravindra Jadeja's short stint as the skipper of the Chennai-based franchise.

Unlike previous seasons, however, CSK didn't qualify for the playoffs and finished ninth in the ten-team tournament.

But before the high-profile event came to a close for the four-time IPL winners, MS Dhoni confirmed that he will be back as CSK skipper next year.

“Definitely yes. It's a simple reason, it will be unfair to not play in Chennai and say thank you,” Dhoni had said.

“Mumbai is one place where as a team and as an individual I've got a lot of love and affection but it won't be nice to the CSK fans. And also hopefully next year it will be an opportunity where the teams will be traveling so it will be like a thank you to all the different places we will be playing games at. Whether it will be my last year or not? That's a big question because we can't predict something that's two years down the line but definitely I'll be working hard to come back strong next year,” he added.