In 1998, Dhoni was selected by Deval Sahay to play for the Central Coal Fields Limited (CCL) team. Till 1998 Dhoni, who was in class 12th in school, had played only school cricket and club cricket and no professional cricket. One of the famous episodes, when Dhoni used to play for CCL, was when Deval Sahay used to gift him Rs 50 for each six that he hit in Sheesh Mahal tournament cricket matches. Playing for CCL, he got a chance to bat up the order. He grabbed the opportunity and scored centuries and helped CCL move to the A division. Deval Sahay impressed by his hard-hitting shots and dedication, used his contacts in Bihar Cricket Association to push for his selection in the Bihar team. Deval Sahay, an ex Bihar Cricket Association Vice-President, was the Ranchi District Cricket President at that time and was instrumental in pushing Dhoni to the big stage of Ranchi team, junior Bihar cricket team and eventually senior Bihar Ranji Team for the 1999–2000 season. Within 1 year, Dhoni moved from playing in CCL to the Bihar Ranji team. Dhoni has credited Deval Sahay for instilling discipline in him. Dhoni was included in the Bihar U-19 squad for the 1998–99 season and scored 176 runs in 5 matches (7 innings) as the team finished fourth in the group of six and did not make it to the quarter-finals. Dhoni was not picked for the East Zone U-19 squad (CK Nayudu Trophy) or Rest of India squad (MA Chidambaram Trophy and Vinoo Mankad Trophy). Bihar U-19 cricket team advanced to the finals of 1999–2000 Cooch Behar Trophy, where Dhoni made 84 to help Bihar post a total of 357. Bihar’s efforts were dwarfed by Punjab U-19s’ 839 with Dhoni’s future national squad teammate Yuvraj Singh making 358. Dhoni’s contribution in the tournament included 488 runs (9 matches, 12 innings), 5 fifties, 17 catches and 7 stumpings. Dhoni made it to the East Zone U-19 squad for the CK Nayudu trophy but scored only 97 runs in four matches, as East Zone lost all four matches and finished last in the tournament.

In the Duleep Trophy finals, Dhoni was picked over international cricketer Deep Dasgupta to represent East Zone. He scored a fighting half-century in the second innings in a losing cause. Dhoni’s talent was discovered via the BCCI’s small-town talent-spotting initiative TRDW. Dhoni was discovered by TRDO Prakash Poddar, captain of Bengal in the 1960s, when he saw Dhoni play for Jharkhand at a match in Jamshedpur in 2003, and sent a report to the National Cricket Academy.

Dhoni had few batting opportunities in the first two games of the Sri Lankan bilateral ODI series (October–November 2005) and was promoted to No. 3 in the third ODI at Sawai Mansingh Stadium (Jaipur). Sri Lanka had set India a target of 299 after a Kumar Sangakkara century and, in reply, India lost Tendulkar early. Dhoni was promoted to accelerate the scoring and ended the game with an unbeaten 183 off 145 balls, winning the game for India. The innings was described in Wisden Almanack (2006) as ‘Uninhibited, yet anything but crude’. The innings set various records including the highest individual score in ODI cricket in the second innings, a record only broken after seven years by Shane Watson. Dhoni ended the series with the highest run aggregate (346) and was awarded the Man of the Series award for his efforts. In December 2005, Dhoni was rewarded a B-grade contract by the BCCI.

Dhoni was named vice-captain of the ODI team for the series against South Africa in Ireland and the subsequent India-England seven-match ODI series. Dhoni, who received a ‘B’ grade contract in December 2005, was awarded an ‘A’ grade contract in June 2007. He was also elected as the captain of the Indian squad for the World Twenty20 in September 2007. On 2 September 2007, Dhoni equalled his idol Adam Gilchrist’s international record for the most dismissals in an innings in ODI by catching five English players and stumping one.

Following his good one-day performance against Sri Lanka, Dhoni replaced Dinesh Karthik in December 2005 as the Indian teams’ Test wicket-keeper. Dhoni scored 30 runs in his debut match, that was marred by rain. Dhoni came to the crease when the team was struggling at 109/5 and as wickets kept falling around him, he played an aggressive innings in which he was the last man to be dismissed. Dhoni made his maiden half-century in the second Test and his quick scoring rate (half century came off 51 balls) helped India set a target of 436 and the Sri Lankans were bowled out for 247.

India scored 328 in 50 overs with Dhoni contributing 68 in their first match of 2006 against Pakistan. However, the team finished poorly scoring just 43 runs in the last eight overs and lost the match due to Duckworth-Lewis method. In the third match of the series, Dhoni came in with India in a precarious situation and scored 72 runs off just 46 balls that included 13 boundaries to help India take a 2–1 lead in the series. The final match of the series had a repeat performance as Dhoni scored 77 runs off 56 balls to enable India win the series 4–1. Due to his consistent ODI performances, Dhoni overtook Ricky Ponting as number one in the ICC ODI Rankings for batsmen on 20 April 2006 becoming the fastest batsman to do so, in 42 innings. His reign lasted just a week as Adam Gilchrist’s performance against Bangladesh moved him to the top spot.

Two cancelled series in Sri Lanka, one due to the withdrawal of South Africa from the Unitech Cup due to security concerns and the replacement three-match ODI bilateral series against Sri Lanka washed due to rain, was India’s prelude to another disappointing tournament – DLF Cup 2006-07. Dhoni scored 43 runs as the team lost twice in three games and did not qualify for the finals. India’s lack of preparation showed in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy as they lost to West Indies and Australia, though Dhoni scored a half-century against West Indies. The story of the ODI series in South Africa was the same for both Dhoni and India as Dhoni scored 139 runs in 4 matches and India lost the series 4–0. From the start of the West Indies ODI series, Dhoni had played 16 matches, hit just two fifties and averaged 25.93. Dhoni received criticism on his wicket-keeping technique from former wicket-keeper Syed Kirmani. Yet, for his performances in 2006, he was named in the World ODI XI by the ICC.

India toured Pakistan in January–February 2006 and Dhoni scored his maiden century in the second Test at Faisalabad. India was in a tight spot when Dhoni along with Irfan Pathan tried to steady the ship, with the team still needing 107 runs to avoid a follow-on. Dhoni played in his naturally aggressive style as he brought up his maiden Test hundred in just 93 balls after scoring the first fifty in just 34 deliveries.

On the West Indies tour in 2006, Dhoni scored a quick and aggressive 69 in the first Test at Antigua. The rest of the series was unremarkable for Dhoni as he scored 99 runs in the remaining 6 innings but his wicket-keeping skills improved and he finished the series with 13 catches and 4 stumpings. In the Test series in South Africa later that year, Dhoni’s scores of 34 and 47 were not sufficient to save the second Test against the Proteas, as India lost the series 2–1, squandering the chance to build on their first ever Test victory in South Africa (achieved in the first Test match). Dhoni’s bruised hands ruled him out of the third Test match.

Dhoni was a part of India’s first-ever Twenty20 international match. He made debut against South Africa in December 2006. He was out for a duck but India won the match. He kept the wickets and effected one catch and a runout.

India unexpectedly crashed out of the World Cup after losses to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the group stage. Dhoni was out for a duck in both these matches and scored just 29 runs in the tournament. After the loss to Bangladesh in 2007 Cricket World Cup, the house that Dhoni was constructing in his home-town Ranchi was vandalised and damaged by political activists of JMM. The local police arranged for security for his family as India exited the World Cup in the first round.

MS Dhoni was chosen to lead India in first-ever World T20 in 2007. He made his captaincy debut against Scotland but the match was washed off. Thereon, he led India to the ICC World Twenty 20 trophy in South Africa, with a victory over arch-rivals Pakistan in an intensely fought final on 24 September 2007, and became the second Indian captain to have won a World Cup in any form of cricket, after Kapil Dev.

Dhoni was named the captain of Indian squad for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa in September 2007. India were crowned champions as Dhoni led the team to victory against Pakistan in a thrilling contest. He went on to become the ODI captain of the Indian team for the seven-match ODI series against Australia in September 2007. He made his debut as full-time Test captain of India during the fourth and final Test against Australia at Nagpur in November 2008, replacing Anil Kumble who was injured in the third test and who then announced his retirement. Dhoni was vice-captain in this series up to that point. India eventually won that Test, thus clinching the series 2–0 and regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Dhoni had previously captained India on a stand-in basis against South Africa and Australia, in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

Dhoni played his first ODI World Cup in 2007 in the Caribbean. India made an early exit from the tournament in the Group Stage. In 2007 Cricket World Cup, India was placed in Group B with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bermuda. Rahul Dravid captained the team in this World Cup. In three matches India played, they managed to win only one against Bermuda while losing the rest from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In their first match against Bangladesh, India was all out in just 191 in 49.3 overs. Dhoni was out for 0. He stumped Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan and captain Habibul Bashar in the match but, India lost by 5 wickets. In the next match against Bermuda, India posted the then Highest Score in the World Cup 413/5 in a must-win match. Dhoni scored 29 off 25 Balls which includes Two 4s and One 6. India won the match by 257 runs. India was required to win their last group match against the Lankans, but they lost by 69 runs. Chasing the target of 255, India crumbled to 185 all out in 43.3 overs. Dhoni was dismissed for 0 for the second time in the tournament, off his first ball by Muttiah Muralitharan. Thus, India was out of the world cup in the first round. The Team was heavily criticized for its performance. Dhoni’s under-construction house in Ranchi was attacked by some 200 fans after the Bangladesh loss.

During the series between India and Australia in 2009, Dhoni hit an aggressive 124 runs in just 107 balls, in the second ODI, and a measured knock of 71 runs in 95 balls, along with Yuvraj Singh and saw India home by 6 wickets in the third ODI. Dhoni took his first and only wicket in international cricket on 30 September 2009. He bowled Travis Dowlin of the West Indies during a match in the 2009 ICC Champions Trophy.

Dhoni topped the ICC ODI Batsman rankings for several months in 2009. Michael Hussey from Australia replaced him at the top spot at the beginning of 2010.

Dhoni had an excellent year in ODIs in 2009, scoring 1198 runs in just 24 innings, at an astonishing average of 70.43. Dhoni was also the joint top-scorer in ODIs in 2009 along with Ricky Ponting, but the latter having played 30 innings. For his performances in 2009, he was named as captain and wicketkeeper of the World ODI XI by the ICC.

Dhoni scored two centuries in Sri Lanka’s tour of India in 2009, a series of three matches in which he led India to a 2–0 victory. With this feat, India soared up to the number one position in Test cricket for the first time in history. India scored 726–9 (decl) in the third match of this series, which was their highest Test total then.

It was under his captaincy that India climbed to No. 1 in the ICC Test Rankings in December 2009. After that, India had clean sweep victories against Bangladesh and Australia. The series against South Africa, who are considered one of the best touring teams in the world, was drawn 1-1. India also came close to defeating South Africa in South Africa in early 2011 before Kallis’ twin hundreds ensured that the series ended at 1-1.

As captain of the Indian cricket team, Dhoni has seldom been suspended due to his team’s slow over-rate. In December 2009, he was suspended for two ODI matches against Sri Lanka by ICC match referee Jeff Crowe as India was three overs short of the specified rate; Virender Sehwag acted as captain for the two matches in Cuttack and Kolkata. In January 2012 Dhoni was banned for the fourth Test match against Australia in Adelaide as India was two overs short during the third Test in Perth. Sehwag captained the team in the Adelaide test and Wriddhiman Saha kept the wickets. In the CB Series in February, Dhoni again faced a one-match ban for slow over rate against Australia.

Dhoni married Sakshi Singh Rawat, his schoolmate in DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, Shyamali. a native of Dehradun, Uttarakhand, on 4 July 2010. At the time of their marriage, she was studying hotel management and was working as a trainee at the Taj Bengal, Kolkata. After the retirement of Sakshi’s father from his tea growing business, their family shifted to their native place, Dehradun.

After winning the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup final against Sri Lanka on 2 April 2011, with his match-winning knock of unbeaten 91, Tendulkar heaped praises on Dhoni, claiming him to be the best captain he has played under. Tendulkar mentioned that it was Dhoni’s calm influence that was rubbing off on all his teammates and described Dhoni’s handling of pressure as incredible.

Dhoni has captained India in two World Cups. Under his captaincy, India won the World Cup in 2011 and reached the semifinals in 2015.

In 2011, Dhoni was conferred the rank of honorary lieutenant-colonel in the Indian Territorial Army for his contribution in cricket. In August 2019 he completed a two-week stint with the Territorial Army in Jammu and Kashmir.

In 2012, Pakistan toured India for a bilateral series for the first time in five years. In the three-match ODI series, Dhoni top-scored for India in all three innings; however, India lost the series 1–2. In the first ODI at Chennai, he helped India recover from 29/5 to help post a total of 227 in 50 overs. Playing a knock of 113 not out, he had a record partnership with Ravichandran Ashwin, although in a losing cause.

On 12 February 2012, Dhoni made an unbeaten 44 to guide India to their first win over Australia at Adelaide. In the final over, he hit a monstrous six which travelled 112 meters off the bowling of Clint McKay. During the post-match presentation, he described this six as more important than the one he hit during the ICC World Cup final in 2011.

Winning the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, Dhoni became the first and the only captain in international cricket to claim all ICC trophies. In the rain-shortened final against England, he was out for a duck and thus ending up the tournament with 27 runs from two innings. However, his field placements and tactics came handy, the team was successful beating the opposition by five runs (D/L method). He was also named as captain and wicketkeeper of the ‘Team of the Tournament’ by the ICC.

In November 2013, Dhoni became the second India batsman after Sachin Tendulkar to aggregate 1,000 or more ODI-runs against Australia.

In March 2013, Dhoni became the most successful Indian Test captain when he eclipsed Sourav Ganguly’s record of 21 victories from 49 Tests. Ganguly also said in an interview to a news channel that Dhoni is the all-time greatest captain of India and he has a great record to support this credential.

In June 2013, India won 2013 ICC Champions Trophy under Dhoni’s captaincy, beating England by five runs in the final, after a semi-final victory over Sri Lanka and defeating South Africa, West Indies and Pakistan in the group stages.

India won the away ODI series in England in 2014 by 3-1 and series against West Indies in India by 2-1 margin. Dhoni had a good performance with the bat scoring a half-century in each of the series.

During the 2015 Cricket World Cup, Dhoni became the first Indian captain to win all group stages matches in such a tournament. India achieved wins against arch-rivals Pakistan, South Africa (whom they hadn’t beaten before in a World Cup game), the United Arab Emirates, the West Indies, Ireland and Zimbabwe. In the match against Zimbabwe at Eden Park, he made 85 not out chasing 288 and had an unbeaten partnership of 195 with Suresh Raina. This is the highest score by an Indian captain on New Zealand soil. Beating Bangladesh in the quarter finals, he became the third overall and the first non-Australian captain to win 100 ODI matches. In an unsuccessful effort against eventual champions Australia in the semi-finals, he made 65 as India were unable to defend their title.

For the 2015 World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand, Dhoni was named the captain of the 30-member squad by the BCCI in December 2014. Under his captaincy, India was able to go through to the semi-finals with ease, beating Bangladesh in the quarter-finals. However, they lost to host Australia in the semi-finals held at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The team won 7 consecutive matches in this world cup and won 11 consecutive matches overall in world cups. With the win against Bangladesh, he became the first non-Australian captain to win 100 ODI matches, and the first Indian captain to achieve the mark. He is also the third captain to win 100 matches, after two Australians, Ricky Ponting, and Allan Border.

The wedding took place one day after the couple got engaged. According to Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu, a close friend of Dhoni, the wedding was planned for months and was not a spur of the moment decision. Dhoni became a father on 6 February 2015 to a baby girl named Ziva. At the time of her birth, Dhoni was in Australia as the captain of Indian team with 2015 Cricket World Cup only a week to kick off. He decided not to travel back to India and was famously quoted saying that “I am on national duty, other things can wait”

In August 2016, Dhoni was selected as captain for India’s first tour to the United States, where India played two T20Is against the West Indies in Lauderhill, Florida. India lost the first match on 27 August 2016, during which Dhoni surpassed former Australian captain Ricky Ponting to become the most experienced captain in international cricket. During 2018 Asia Cup in India’s last Super Four match, against Afghanistan, captain Rohit Sharma and vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan were both rested for the match. He was named the captain of the side in their absence, and became the first cricketer to lead India 200 times in ODIs.

After the suspension of CSK for two years, he was bought by Rising Pune Supergiant for US$1.9 million in 2016, and was named captain. However, his team finished in 7th place. In 2017, his team reached the final, where they lost to Mumbai Indians.

In February 2016, Dhoni launched lifestyle brand SEVEN. Dhoni owns the footwear side of the brand and is also the brand ambassador of SEVEN. In 2019, Dhoni invested in CARS24 and simultaneously became brand ambassador of the company.

A biographical film based on the life of Dhoni, titled M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, was released on 30 September 2016.

Dhoni stepped down as captain of India in the limited over formats in January 2017, just ahead of the ODI series at home against England. In the second game of the series, he scored 134 off 122 balls, that included a 256-run partnership for the fourth wicket along with Yuvraj Singh. The century, his tenth in ODIs, was his first in over three years. He was named as a wicketkeeper of the ‘Team of the Tournament’ at the 2017 Champions Trophy by Cricbuzz. He was also named in the ODI XI of the year by Cricbuzz.

In August that year, during the fifth and final ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo, he became the first wicket-keeper to effect 100 stumpings surpassing Kumar Sangakkara, when he stumped Akila Dananjaya off Yuzvendra Chahal. He reached the milestone of effecting 400 dismissals in ODIs in February 2018, following the stumping of Aiden Markram in the third ODI of the South Africa tour.

He played his last series in the 2014–15 season in India’s tour of Australia captaining India in the second and third tests; losing the second and drawing the third, trailing the series 2–0 before the Sydney Test. Following the third Test in Melbourne, Dhoni announced his retirement from the format. In his last Test, he effected nine dismissals (eight catches and a stumping), and in the process, went past Kumar Sangakkara in the record for stumpings with 134 (in all three formats combined). He also set a record for effecting the most dismissals in a match by an Indian wicketkeeper until it was broken by Wriddhiman Saha in 2018. He finished his last innings unbeaten making 24 runs.

In the 2018 IPL season, Chennai Super Kings returned to IPL, and Dhoni was again selected to lead the franchise. Dhoni scored 455 runs in the tournament and led his side to their third IPL title.

In April 2019, he was named in India’s squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. In July 2019, in India’s semi-final match against New Zealand, Dhoni played in his 350th ODI.

In the 2019 IPL, Dhoni again captained CSK, which emerged to be one of the strongest teams in the season. Dhoni was the leading run-scorer for the team, which included 3 fifties – 75* and 58 against RR in winning causes and 84* against RCB in a losing cause, in which CSK lost by a run.

In 2019, Dhoni Entertainment entered into a long-term business agreement with Banijay Asia to produce content in various genres. The first show developed was a documentary web series, titled Roar of The Lion, about the comeback of the Chennai Super Kings to lift the 2018 Indian Premier League starring MS Dhoni in the lead role. The web series is the biggest ever release through the platform of Hotstar Specials and started its online streaming from 20 March 2019.

A movie was made based on Dhoni’s life, from his childhood to the 2011 Cricket World Cup, titled M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, with Sushant Singh Rajput in the titular role. Another web series centered on his life and his times with the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League aired on Hotstar on 20 March 2019, titled Roar of the Lion.

He announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket on 15 August 2020.

Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on 15 August 2020 on the day of India’s 74th independence. He did so by posting a video on Instagram that contained pictures from both the best and the worst moments of his career with the song Mai Pal do Pal ka Shayar Hoon playing in the background. The video had been captioned as “Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout.from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired”.