Mahendra Singh Dhoni Biography

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, (born 7 July 1981) commonly known as MS Dhoni, is an Indian international cricketer who captained the Indian national team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2016 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014

Dhoni was born in Ranchi, Bihar (now in Jharkhand), and he identifies as a Hindu Rajput. His paternal village Lwali is in the Lamgara block of the Almora District of Uttarakhand. Dhoni's parents moved from Uttarakhand to Ranchi, where his father Pan Singh worked in junior management positions in MECON. Dhoni has a sister Jayanti Gupta and a brother Narendra Singh Dhoni. Dhoni is a fan of Adam Gilchrist, and his childhood idols were cricket teammate Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan and singer Lata Mangeshkar.

Dhoni studied at DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, Shyamali, Ranchi, Jharkhand where he initially excelled in badminton and football and was selected at district and club level in these sports. Dhoni was a goalkeeper for his football team and was sent to play cricket for a local cricket club by his football coach. Though he had not played cricket, Dhoni impressed with his wicket-keeping skills and became the regular wicketkeeper at the Commando cricket club (1995–1998). Based on his performance at club cricket, he was picked for the 1997/98 season Vinoo Mankad Trophy Under-16 Championship and he performed well. Dhoni focused on cricket after his 10th standard. Dhoni was a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) at Kharagpur railway station from 2001 to 2003, under South Eastern Railway in Midnapore (W), a district in West Bengal. His colleagues remember him as a very honest, straightforward employee of the Indian Railways. But he also had a mischievous side to his personality. Once, while staying at the railway quarters, Dhoni and a couple of his friends covered themselves in white bedsheets and walked around in the complex late in the night. The night guards were fooled into believing that there were ghosts moving around in the complex. The story made big news on the next day.

MS Dhoni Facts and Information
Full name	Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Born	7 July 1981 (age 38), Ranchi, Jharkhand, India
Hometown	Ranchi, Jharkhand
Nickname	Mahi, MS, MSD
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Batting style	Right hand batsman
Bowling style	Right arm medium
Role	Wicket-keeper, Batsman
National side	India
Major Teams	India, Asia XI, Bihar, Chennai Super Kings, Jharkhand, Rising Pune Supergiants
Test debut (cap 251)	2 December 2005 v Sri Lanka
Last Test	26 December 2014 v Australia
ODI debut (cap 158)	23 December 2004 v Bangladesh
Last ODI	2 July 2019 v Bangladesh
ODI shirt no.	7
T20I debut (cap 2)	1 December 2006 v South Africa
Last T20I	27 February 2019 v Australia

Early career

In 1998, Dhoni was selected by Deval Sahay to play for the Central Coal Fields Limited (CCL) team. Till 1998 Dhoni, who was in class 12th in school, had played only school cricket and club cricket and no professional cricket. One of the famous episodes, when Dhoni used to play for CCL, was when Deval Sahay used to gift him Rs 50 for each six that he hit in Sheesh Mahal tournament cricket matches. Playing for CCL, he got a chance to bat up the order. He grabbed the opportunity and scored centuries and helped CCL move to the A division Dhoni made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar in the 1999–2000 season, as an eighteen-year-old. He made a half century in his debut match scoring 68* in the second innings against Assam cricket team. Dhoni finished the season with 283 runs in 5 matches. Dhoni scored his maiden first-class century while playing for Bihar against Bengal in the 2000/01 season, in a losing cause.

Dhoni's performance in the 2002–03 season included three half-centuries in the Ranji Trophy and a couple of half-centuries in the Deodhar Trophy, as he started gaining recognition for his lower-order contribution as well as hard-hitting batting style. In the 2003/04 season, Dhoni scored a century (128*) against Assam in the first match of the Ranji ODI tournament. Dhoni was part of the East Zone squad that won the Deodhar Trophy 2003–2004 season and contributed with 244 runs in 4 matches, including a century (114) against Central zone.

India A team

He was recognised for his efforts in the 2003/04 season, especially in the One Day format and was picked for the India A squad for a tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya. Against the Zimbabwe XI in Harare Sports Club, Dhoni had his best wicket-keeping effort with 7 catches and 4 stumpings in the match. In the tri-nation tournament involving Kenya, India A and Pakistan A, Dhoni helped India A chase down their target of 223 against Pakistan A with a half-century.

Start of ODI career

The Indian ODI team in the early 2000s saw Rahul Dravid as the wicket-keeper to ensure that the wicket-keeper spot didn't lack in batting talent. The team also saw the entry of wicket-keeper/batsmen from the junior ranks, with talents like Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik (both India U-19 captains) named in the Test squads. With Dhoni making a mark in the India A squad, he was picked in the ODI squad for the Bangladesh tour in 2004/05. Dhoni did not have a great start to his ODI career, getting run out for a duck on debut. In spite of an average series against Bangladesh, Dhoni was picked for the Pakistan ODI series.

In the second match of the series, Dhoni, in his fifth one-day international, scored 148 in Visakhapatnam off only 123 deliveries. Dhoni's 148 surpassed the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicket-keeper, a record that he would re-write before the end of the year.

2011 Cricket World Cup:

Under Dhoni's captaincy, India won the 2011 World Cup. In the final against Sri Lanka, chasing 275, Dhoni promoted himself up the batting order, coming before an in-form Yuvraj Singh. When he came to bat, India needed more than six runs per over with three top order batsmen already dismissed. He started building a good partnership with Gautam Gambhir. Due to good strokeplay and active running between wickets, they kept up with the required run rate. Dhoni was on 60 off 60 balls but later accelerated with a greater frequency of boundaries, ending with 91 not out off 79 balls. Befitting the occasion, he finished the match off in style with a huge six over long-on off bowler Nuwan Kulasekara and won the Man of the Match award. Later in the post-match presentation, he admitted that he came up the order so as to counter the Muralitharan spin threat, as he was very familiar with Murali's bowling, who was his teammate in the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings. He had come after the dismissal of Virat Kohli, also a right-handed batsman. By partnering the left-handed Gambhir, he ensured a right-left combination at the crease that makes it difficult for bowlers to settle into a rhythm.

The bat used by Dhoni in the final match was sold for ₹ 72 Lac. The money goes to Sakshi Rawat Foundation, operated by Dhoni's wife Sakshi Rawat to help orphan children.

2015 Cricket World Cup:

For the 2015 World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand, Dhoni was named the captain of the 30-member squad by the BCCI in December 2014. Under his captaincy, India was able to go through to the semi-finals with ease, beating Bangladesh in the quarter-finals. However, they lost to host Australia in the semi-finals held at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The team won 7 consecutive matches in this world cup and won 11 consecutive matches overall in world cups. With the win against Bangladesh, he became the first non-Australian captain to win 100 ODI matches, and first Indian captain to achieve the mark. He is also the third captain to win 100 matches, after two Australians, Ricky Ponting, and Allan Border.

2019 Cricket World Cup:

Dhoni was named in the 15 man squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup held in England and Wales. Dhoni scored some handy knocks in the tournament against South Africa, Australia and West Indies, although he was criticised for his strike rate and 'lack of intent' in the match against Afghanistan and England. In the semi-final against New Zealand, Dhoni scored a fighting half century in the second innings but was unfortunately run out at crucial stage thus ending India's World Cup run.