MS Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings skipper, became the first player to play 200 Indian Premier League (IPL) matches when he took field against Rajasthan Royals at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Monday. Before the start of the tournament, Suresh Raina was the most capped IPL player but after he pulled out of the 13th edition, this record was there for the taking for the CSK skipper. Dhoni achieved the feat before Rohit Sharma who played his 197th match against Kings XI Punjab on Sunday. The next name on the list is former Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik who has played 191 games, followed by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli with 186 IPL caps.
Prior to Monday's clash, Dhoni had scored 4,568 runs at a strike-rate of 137.67. Dhoni is third on the leading six-hittters' list with 215 sixes to his name, behind Chris Gayle (333 sixes) and AB de Villiers (231 sixes).
When asked about the achievement at the toss, Dhoni said: "You spoke about it and that's how I got to know. It feels good but at the same time it's just a number. I feel fortunate to play for such a long time without many injuries".
Raina took to Twitter to congratulate Dhoni on the special achievement and wrote: "The first-ever player to play his 200th match in IPL, Best of luck for today @msdhoni Bhai .. Wishing you loads of success. You always make us proud."
Dhoni has also played the most number of matches as a skipper, leading the side in 184 matches, and is the second-most successful leader in IPL history, winning three titles with Chennai Super Kings.
When CSK were suspended for two seasons, Dhoni also led Rising Pune Supergiant in 2016. In 2017, he was removed as skipper mid-season but played a crucial role as RPS reached the final, where they lost to Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians.
The impact of Dhoni on Chennai has been immense since the inaugural season where they lost in the final to Rajasthan Royals. Chennai are the only side in the IPL history to qualify for play-offs in each of the 10 seasons they have been part of the cash-rich league.
However, this season things have not gone as planned for the Chennai-based outfit and find themselves second from bottom in the eight-team table, winning just three matches from nine outings. CSK need to win all their remaining games to keep intact their record making it to the knock-out stage in each season.