One of the few players that have participated in all 18 Indian Premier League (IPL) seasons since 2008 is MS Dhoni. One of the tournament’s superstars, the 43-year-old has participated in 278 matches and amassed 5439 runs at an average of 38.30 and a strike rate of 137.45.
At INR 9.5 crore, the Chennai Super Kings purchased Dhoni at the 2008 IPL auction. With the exception of the 2016 and 2017 seasons, when he was acquired by Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) and captained the team in the 2016 edition, Dhoni has also led the Yellow Brigade to five IPL championships and has played for them most of the time. The Pune team advanced to the 2017 finals after finishing seventh in the 2016 standings. In the lucrative league, he has also played the most games as captain.
Only one of the tournament’s first five seasons, from 2008 to 2012, saw him fall short of 300 runs or more. His strike rate and average, however, continued to be strong. The former India captain had another successful and fruitful season from 2013 to 2015. His greatest season in terms of runs was 2013, when he amassed 461 with a strike rate of 162.89. His average was 41.90.
The two-time world stumper-batter had a little underwhelming seasons in 2016 and 2017, but he was able to get into a rhythm in 2018 and 2019. Even though he was never among the runs in 2023 and 2024, he was still able to get some huge hits and keep up a healthy strike rate in the tournament during the somewhat lacklustre 2020–2022 seasons. He had one of his worst years with the bat in 2025. All things considered, Dhoni’s IPL career may have reached its lowest point in the 2020s.
Here is MS Dhoni performance in each year of the IPL:
| Season | Matches | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s |
| 2008 | 16 | 414 | 65 | 41.40 | 133.54 | 0 | 2 | 38 | 15 |
| 2009 | 14 | 332 | 58 | 41.50 | 127.20 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 9 |
| 2010 | 13 | 287 | 66 | 31.88 | 136.66 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 8 |
| 2011 | 16 | 392 | 70 | 43.55 | 158.70 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 23 |
| 2012 | 19 | 358 | 51 | 29.83 | 128.77 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 9 |
| 2013 | 18 | 461 | 67 | 41.90 | 162.89 | 0 | 4 | 32 | 25 |
| 2014 | 16 | 371 | 57 | 74.20 | 148.40 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 20 |
| 2015 | 17 | 372 | 53 | 31.00 | 121.96 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 17 |
| 2016 | 14 | 284 | 64 | 40.57 | 135.23 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 14 |
| 2017 | 16 | 290 | 61 | 26.36 | 116.00 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 16 |
| 2018 | 16 | 455 | 79 | 75.83 | 150.66 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 30 |
| 2019 | 15 | 416 | 84 | 83.20 | 134.62 | 0 | 3 | 22 | 23 |
| 2020 | 14 | 200 | 47 | 25.00 | 116.27 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 7 |
| 2021 | 16 | 114 | 18 | 16.28 | 106.54 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 |
| 2022 | 14 | 232 | 50 | 33.14 | 123.40 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 10 |
| 2023 | 16 | 104 | 32 | 26.00 | 182.46 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 2024 | 14 | 161 | 37 | 53.67 | 220.55 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 13 |
| 2025 | 14 | 196 | 30 | 24.50 | 135.17 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 12 |
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