Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will tie the knot with childhood friend Sakshi Singh Rawat in a hush-hush ceremony at a farmhouse about 40km from here on Sunday.

The 28-year-old wicket-keeper batsman got engaged to Sakshi, a 23-year-old hotel management student, at a private ceremony on Saturday.

The wedding is also expected to be a private affair with only very close family members and friends, including Dhoni's teammates Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra, among those attending.

BCCI bigwigs including president Shashank Manohar are also expected to attend the wedding.

Although family sources had indicated after the engagement that the marriage will take place in October, India's tight schedule in the next few months might have prompted the pre-ponement.

Despite being a private ceremony, the wedding will have its share of glamour as Dhoni's Bollywood friend John Abraham is reportedly in Dehradun to attend the marriage.

The couple is expected to host a reception in Mumbai on July 7, which also happens to be Dhoni's 29th birthday.

Dhoni and Sakshi, who hails from Aurangabad, had been school friends at DAV, Shamily in Ranchi.

"Their fathers worked together in MECON, and the Rawats moved to Dehradun after retirement," a family friend said.

The Indian captain is currently enjoying a rare break from international cricket and will be next seen in action during a three-Test series against Sri Lanka scheduled to begin from July 18 at Galle.

Dhoni, who made his international debut against Bangladesh in December 2004, has so far played 43 Tests, 166 ODIs and 25 T20s.

Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Cup Twenty20, CB Series of 2007-08, and the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2008 beating Australia 2-0.

He also captained Chennai Super Kings to victory in this year's Indian Premier League. He is now captain of India in all three forms of the game, leading the team to its first ever bilateral ODI series wins in Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

Under his leadership, India attained the number one status in Test cricket and became number two this year in ODI rankings.

Dhoni has also been the recipient of ICC ODI Player of the Year award in 2008 and 2009 (the first Indian to achieve this feat). He was bestowed the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian honour in 2009.