South African Legend AB de Villiers Gives Special Tribute To MS Dhoni On Captain Cool's 44th Birthday: 'He Was An Intimidating Player'

As legendary Indian wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni turned 44, former South African cricketer AB de Villiers lauded 'captain cool' on his birthday.

MS Dhoni on Monday, July 7th celebrated his 44th birthday. Cricket fans all over the nation celebrated Dhoni's birthday by cutting cakes.

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The 44-year-old time and time again proved that age is just a number. Even though Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket in 2020, he continued playing in the Indian Premier League.

In the recently concluded IPL 2025, MS Dhoni led the Chennai Super Kings, after Ruturaj Gaikwad sustained an injury.

It was a quiet IPL 2025 season for the keeper-batter. MS Dhoni played 14 matches in the 18th season of the cash-rich tournament, scoring 196 runs at a strike rate of 135.17.

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AB de Villiers Lauds MS Dhoni On His 44th Birthday

While speaking on JioHotstar, former South African cricketer AB de Villiers heaped praise on MS Dhoni. The South African batter accepted that it was always very difficult to play against MS Dhoni since nothing worked against the former Indian cricketer.

“It was very difficult to plan for MS Dhoni. When he was on song, nothing worked. Later on, we discovered that sometimes you could get away with wide deliveries with the seam, especially in the back end of his innings," AB de Villiers said on JioHotstar.

AB de Villiers further showered praise on Dhoni, calling him an intimidating player to play against.

"The guy’s class — not many game plans worked against him. I have a lot of respect for him and his achievements throughout his career. He was definitely an intimidating player to play against. What a fantastic career he had,” he added.

MS Dhoni's Number With The Indian Cricket Team

MS Dhoni made his Test debut in 2005 against Sri Lanka. Following that, Dhoni played 90 red-ball matches and 144 innings, scoring 4876 runs at an average of 38.09.

Dhoni played his maiden ODI match in 2004 against Bangladesh. The keeper-batter was known for his performance in the 50-over format. In the ODIs, Dhoni played 350 matches and 297 innings, scoring 10773 runs at a strike rate of 87.56.

The 44-year-old made his T20I debut late in 2006 against South Africa. Following that, Dhoni played 98 T20I matches and 85 innings, scoring 1617 runs at a strike rate of 126.13.

MS Dhoni captained the Indian Cricket Team in all three formats. In the white-ball format, Dhoni led the Men in Blue from 2007 to 2017. Meanwhile, the former Indian cricketer led the Test side from 2008 to 2014.