Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was named captain of the team for the seven-match One-Day International series against Australia, holds the unique feat of captaining India in an international match without ever captaining his home teams Bihar and Jharkhand in the Ranji Trophy or any other important domestic cricket match.
In fact, he had the experience of captaining a team only once, before leading India in the ICC Twenty20 Championship. That game was between an Indian XI and England 'A' at Northampton recently.
Dhoni is the fifth youngest player to captain India in one-day internationals after Sachin Tendulkar (23 years 126 days), Kapil Dev (23 years 249 days), Virender Sehwag (24 years 178 days) and Ravi Shastri (24 years 245 days).
Dhoni will also be the third wicketkeeper to lead India in a one-day international after Syed Kirmani (one match) and Rahul Dravid (five matches).
Dhoni in one-day internationals
| Mts | Runs | Hs | Avg | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 6s | |
| for India | 81 | 2303 | 183* | 42.64 | 94.61 | 2 | 14 | 5 | 64 |
| for Asia XI | 3 | 174 | 139* | 87.00 | 125.17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| TOTAL | 84 | 2477 | 183* | 44.23 | 96.26 | 3 | 14 | 5 | 71 |
Dhoni against each opponent
| Mts | Runs | Hs | Avg | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 6s | |
| v Africa XI | 3 | 174 | 139* | 87.00 | 125.17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| v Australia | 3 | 51 | 28 | 25.50 | 89.47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| v Bangladesh | 6 | 146 | 91* | 36.50 | 82.48 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| v Bermuda | 1 | 29 | 29 | 29.00 | 116.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| v England | 13 | 359 | 96 | 32.63 | 76.05 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| v New Zealand | 3 | 50 | 37* | 25.00 | 104.16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| v Pakistan | 13 | 542 | 148 | 60.22 | 105.44 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
| v Scotland | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| v South Africa | 10 | 196 | 55 | 24.50 | 81.66 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| v Sri Lanka | 16 | 490 | 183* | 61.25 | 102.51 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 17 |
| v West Indies | 13 | 317 | 62* | 39.62 | 100.95 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 |
| v Zimbabwe | 2 | 123 | 67* | 123.00 | 112.84 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
Dhoni at home and away
| Mts | Runs | Hs | Avg | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 6s | |
| at HOME | 32 | 1136 | 183* | 56.80 | 96.02 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 35 |
| in OPPOSITION's venues | 33 | 926 | 91* | 40.26 | 92.97 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 22 |
| at NEUTRAL venues | 19 | 415 | 139* | 31.92 | 105.32 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 14 |
Dhoni in each calendar year
| Year | Mts | Runs | Hs | Avg | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 6s |
| 2004 | 3 | 19 | 12 | 9.50 | 135.71 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2005 | 27 | 895 | 183* | 49.72 | 103.11 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 34 |
| 2006 | 29 | 821 | 96 | 41.05 | 92.97 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 20 |
| 2007 | 25 | 742 | 139* | 46.37 | 91.83 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 16 |
Dhoni - batting first and second
| Mts | Runs | Hs | Avg | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 6s | |
| Batting first | 42 | 1320 | 148 | 38.82 | 97.70 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 39 |
| Batting second | 42 | 1157 | 183* | 52.59 | 94.68 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 32 |
Dhoni in won and lost matches
| Mts | Runs | Hs | Avg | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 6s | |
| in WON matches | 46 | 1652 | 183* | 75.09 | 110.05 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 55 |
| in LOST matches | 35 | 825 | 96 | 24.26 | 76.95 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 16 |
| in NO-RESULT matches | 3 | 0 | - | - | - | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Dhoni at each batting position
| Mts | Runs | Hs | Avg | SR | 100 | 50 | 0 | 6s | |
| 2nd position | 2 | 98 | 96 | 49.00 | 86.72 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 3rd position | 11 | 641 | 183* | 71.22 | 96.82 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| 4th position | 7 | 369 | 80 | 73.80 | 117.51 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 15 |
| 5th position | 8 | 160 | 44 | 22.85 | 93.56 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 6th position | 23 | 674 | 67* | 39.64 | 88.68 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 19 |
| 7th position | 21 | 484 | 139* | 37.23 | 102.76 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 14 |
| 8th position | 3 | 51 | 20 | 17.00 | 62.19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |