Legendary former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni celebrated his 43rd birthday in the company of Bollywood icon Salman Khan in Mumbai. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) star Ruturaj Gaikwad also took some time away from his Zimbabwe tour with Team India to wish MS Dhoni via a video call. Dhoni and his wife Sakshi are presently in Mumbai to attend the Sangeet celebrations of Mukesh Ambani’s son Anant Ambani’s wedding. A video of Dhoni cutting his birthday cake in the early hours of July 7 went viral, and Salman Khan is seen standing alongside Dhoni and his wife Sakshi.

Later, Salman Khan took to social media to wish Dhoni on his 43rd birthday.

“Happy Birthay Kaptaan Sahab (Captain)!” tweeted Salman Khan, with a picture of the two from the birthday celebrations.

MS Dhoni’s birthday celebration with Sakshi and Salman Khan. pic.twitter.com/p2iqhR3600

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) July 7, 2024

Happy Birthday Kaptaan Sahab!@msdhoni pic.twitter.com/2bjCTNWRil

— Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 6, 2024

Dhoni then received a video call from Ruturaj Gaikwad, the man to whom he had passed over the captaincy of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings. Mukesh Kumar and Tushar Deshpande – Gaikwad’s teammates on the Zimbabwe tour – were also seen in the video call. Deshpande also plays for CSK.

Ruturaj Gaikwad wished MS Dhoni on his birthday through a video call.

– The bond of Thala & Rutu…!!!! pic.twitter.com/bIDoNxgzj1

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 7, 2024

In the video, Dhoni is seen sporting his new shorter haircut, a picture of which was shared by famous hair stylist Aalim Hakim last month.

Dhoni is not the only high-profile former India captain born in July. Sourav Ganguly was born on July 8, whilst Sunil Gavaskar was born on July 10.

Gaikwad disappoints for India

Right after winning the 2024 T20 World Cup, a youthful India team led by Shubman Gill lost the first T20I against Zimbabwe. Gaikwad, who batted at no. 3, contributed just seven runs in nine balls, as India failed to chase down a paltry target of 116.

India take on Zimbabwe in the second of five T20Is on the very next day, and will hope to avenge an embarrassing defeat to the 12th-ranked T20I nation in the ICC rankings.