Mahendra Singh Dhoni, fondly called as Mahi by his fans, will add another feather to his already illustrated cap, when India plays against England in the second Twenty20 International (T20I) at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, on Friday. With his participation, MS Dhoni will be playing his 500th international match for India across different formats –Tests, One Day Internationals (ODIs), and T20Is. The achievement by MS Dhoni is a remarkable one, as he will become only the third Indian player to accomplish the rare feat. Ahead of him in the list are Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

India’s legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar tops the list as he played a total of 664 matches in his illustrious career. Second on the list is Rahul Dravid, the Wall of Indian cricket. Dravid participated in 509 games in his career. Joining the elite list would be next would none other than MS Dhoni. So far, the former Indian captain has played in his glorious career.

List of Players with Most International Matches for India:

Sr. No. Player Name Matches Runs Career Span
1. Sachin Tendulkar 664 34,357 1989-2013
2. Rahul Dravid 509 24,208 1996-2012
3. MS Dhoni 500* 16,330 2004-Present
4. Mohammad Azharuddin 433 15,593 1984-2000
5. Saurav Ganguly 424 18,575 1992-2008
(*) indicates record till 2nd T20I against England at Cardiff, 2018.

With 644 international matches, Sachin Tendulkar also happens to top the list of most games played internationally too. Second on the list is Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene with 652 matches, followed by Kumar Sangakkara on the third position, who played 594 games for Sri Lanka.

MS Dhoni, who will be celebrating his 37th birthday on July 7, 2018, made his debut for India playing his first ODI match, in the year 2004. Dhoni made his Test match debut next year, in 2005, against Sri Lanka. In T20I, Dhoni played his first match against South Africa in 2006. MS Dhoni Birthday Special: Some of the Records Held by the Former Indian Cricket Team Captain.

MS Dhoni has a truckload of records against his name. Recently, he went past Pakistan’s Kamran Akmal to become record the most number of stumpings in T20Is against his name. Over the years, Dhoni has curved a cult-figure for himself in the game’s history. We wish MS Dhoni good luck as India prepares to take on England in the 2nd T20I at Cardiff on Friday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 06, 2018 11:56 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).