Mumbai, April 21: India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has made it to TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of 2011 list. The honour follows the Indian victory at the 2011 ICC World Cup led by the unflappable Dhoni.

Bestselling author Chetan Bhagat, commissioned to introduce Dhoni to the magazine’s readers, describes the CSK skipper as somebody who exudes confidence and humility.

“As astonishing as Dhoni's talent is his background. Indian success stories are usually associated with pedigree, connections and power. Dhoni, from a small-town family of modest means, had none of these, but he's shown India that you can make it with only one thing: excellence. Dhoni doesn't just lead a cricket team; he's also India's captain of hope. And he didn't just win India the World Cup; he also taught India how to win,” writes Bhagat.

In his time as captain of the Indian cricket team, Dhoni has tasted success in all three formats of the game. He led India to ICC World Twenty20 glory in 2007. With Dhoni at the helm, India also registered their only ODI tri-series victory in Australia in early 2008. Having taken over the Test captaincy from Anil Kumble in late 2008, Dhoni has gone on to lead India in Test series victories against England, Australia and New Zealand at home. In early 2009, India beat New Zealand in New Zealand under his captaincy in a three match Test-series for the first time in 41 years.

Earlier this year, he also became the only Indian captain to have drawn a Test series in South Africa.

Last year, Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings earned their first ever IPL and CLT20 titles under his leadership.

In the recently concluded 2011 ICC World Cup, Dhoni played a stellar innings of 91* in the final – a performance that fetched him the Man-of-the-Match award.

It has been an astonishing run for a cricketer who made his international debut in an ODI game against Bangladesh a little over six years ago in late December 2004.

The 29-year old Dhoni, who hails from Ranchi, Jharkhand, finds his name mentioned amongst the likes of Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, Joseph Stiglitz, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Lionel Messi, Kim Clijsters and Justin Bieber on the TIME list. The other Indians on TIME’s 2011 list are industrialist and Mumbai Indians owner Mukesh Ambani, social activist Aruna Roy and Wipro Ltd. owner Azim Premji.

Time magazine had named Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar amongst its most influential people in 2010.