IPL 2021 Final: CSK's MS Dhoni becomes first captain to lead in 300 T20s
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni on Friday added another feather to his illustrious cap as he made his way to the field for the flip of a coin in the much-awaited IPL 2021 final against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
The 40-year-old icon played his 300th T20 match as captain as the Chennai outfit played their ninth IPL final in Dubai. Only Dhoni and Daren Sammy (208) are the players who have captained teams in more than 200 T20s.
"We started T20 in around 2005-06 and most of the games have been franchise cricket and in the last five years, there have been a lot of T20 games in international cricket as well," MS Dhoni said when asked about his feat.
Dhoni also holds the record for winning the most number of IPL matches, having led Chennai to three IPL trophies so far. He has led the yellow brigade in 213 matches, registering 130 wins and 81 defeats. He had led Chennai to their maiden IPL title in 2010 before repeating the feat in 2011 and 2018.
Here's the list of players with most T20s as captain:
| Captain | Matches |
| MS Dhoni | 300* |
| Daren Sammy | 208 |
| Virat Kohli | 185 |
| Gautam Gambhir | 170 |
| Rohit Sharma | 153 |
The summit clash against Kolkata in Dubai will be a record ninth final appearance in 12 editions for Chennai, who already have three IPL titles under their belt. Chennai beat Delhi Capitals by four wickets in the Qualifier 1 in Dubai and became the first team to reach IPL 2021 final.
He also took charge of Rising Pune Supergiant before being replaced by Steve Smith. In his brief stint with the Pune-based franchise, Dhoni recorded five wins and nine defeats in 14 matches.
In the 2021 IPL Final, the KKR won the toss and opted to bowl against CSK.
