Dynamic
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India
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (born 7 July 1981), commonly known as M. S. Dhoni, is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian national cricket team and the Chennai Super Kings cricket team. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut in December 2004 against Bangladesh, and a year later played his first Test, this time against Sri Lanka.He is captain of India in all three forms of the game and also led the team to their first ever bilateral ODI series wins in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Under Dhoni's captaincy India became the first team after a gap of more than 40 years to whitewash Australia in a Test series. Dhoni also led the Indian team to the number one position in ICC rankings in Test cricket for the first time. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, CB Series of 2007–08, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2008 and 2010 against Australia 2–0, Asia cup 2010 and 2011 World Cup. His Test and ODI records are the best for Indian captains to date. He also captained Chennai Super Kings to victory in the recent 2011 IPL and in the Champions League. He was named as the captain of ICC World Test and ICC ODI teams for 2009. In the final of the 2011 Cricket World Cup, he hit 91 not out of just 79 balls to lead India to victory. For his outstanding batting in the final, he was awarded as the man of the match.
Dhoni also holds the post of Vice-President of India Cements Ltd. (ICL) after resigning from Air India. ICL is the owner of the IPL team Chennai Super Kings, and Dhoni has been its captain since the first edition of IPL.
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In March 2013 he became the most successful Indian Test captain when he eclipsed Sourav Ganguly’s record of 21 victories from 49 Tests.
Early life and background
Dhoni was born in Ranchi, Bihar (now in Jharkhand), and he identifies as being a Rajput. His paternal village Lvali is in the Lamgarha block of the Almora District of Uttarakhand. Dhoni's parents, moved from Uttarakhand to Ranchi where Pan Singh worked in junior management positions in MECON. Dhoni has a sister Jayanti Gupta and a brother Narendra Singh Dhoni.[13][14] Dhoni is a fan of Adam Gilchrist, and his childhood idols were cricket teammate Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan and singer Lata Mangeshkar.Shreya Ghoshal is his current favourite singer. He said this in front a press conference with Pune Mirror.
Dhoni studied at DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, Shyamali,(now the school is known as JVM, Shyamli, Ranchi) 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 Train 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.
Personal life
Dhoni married Sakshi Singh Rawat, a native of Dehradun,
Uttarakhand, on 4 July 2010. At the time of their marriage, she was
studying Hotel Management and was working as a trainee at the Taj
Bengal, Kolkata. After the retirement of Sakshi’s father from tea
gardens, their family shifted to their native place, Dehradun.
The wedding stumped the media and the fans as it took place only a day after the couple got engaged.Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu,
a close friend of Dhoni, was quick to inform the media that the wedding
was planned for months and was not a spur of the moment decision.
Playing style
Dhoni is a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper.
Dhoni is one of the number of wicket-keepers who have come through the
ranks of junior and India A cricket teams to represent the national team
– Parthiv Patel, Ajay Ratra and Dinesh Karthik also followed this route. Dhoni, referred to as 'Mahi' by his friends, debuted in the Bihar cricket team during the 1998/99 cricket season and was selected to represent India-A for a tour to Kenya in 2004. Along with Gautam Gambhir,
Dhoni made multiple centuries against the Pakistan-A team in a
tri-nation series and was selected in the Indian national team later in
that year.
Dhoni tends to play mostly from the back foot with a pronounced
bottom hand grip. He has a very fast hand speed through the ball which
often results in the ball racing across the ground. From this initial
stance his feet do not show much movement which sometimes results in
chasing balls while not coming to the pitch of the ball or to some
deliveries catching the inside edge.
Dhoni scored 148 against Pakistan
in his fifth ODI match in 2005 – then the highest score by an Indian
wicketkeeper. Later in the year, he broke his own record as well as set
the current world record for the highest score in the second innings in
ODI matches as he scored 183* against Sri Lanka.
Dhoni's success in the limited overs format secured him a place in the
Test team. Consistent performances in ODI cricket through the end of the
2005/06 season saw Dhoni briefly ranked as the No. 1 batsman in the ICC ODI ratings.
Dhoni's form dipped through 2006 as India lost matches at the ICC Champions trophy, DLF Cup, away bilateral series against West Indies and South Africa.
A return to form in the home series against West Indies and Sri Lanka
in early 2007 proved to be an inaccurate indicator of Dhoni's form as
India crashed out of the first round in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Dhoni was out for a duck in both India's losses. After the World Cup, Dhoni won the Man of the series award in the bilateral ODI tournament against Bangladesh. For the tour of England, Dhoni was named the ODI team vice-captain.
Only nine players have captained ten or more Tests while playing as a
wicket-keeper. Dhoni leads the field with 33 Tests as captain, 15 ahead
of Gerry Alexander in second place.
Domestic career
Junior cricket in Bihar
Dhoni was included in the Bihar U-19 squad for the 1998/99 season and
scored 176 runs in 5 matches (7 innings) as the team finished fourth in
the group of six and did not make it to the quarter finals. Dhoni was
not picked for the East Zone U-19 squad (CK Nayudu Trophy) and Rest of
India squad (MA Chidambaram Trophy and Vinoo Mankad Trophy). Bihar
U-19 cricket team advanced to the finals of the 1999–2000 Cooch Behar
Trophy where Dhoni made 84 to help Bihar post a total of 357. Bihar's
efforts were dwarfed by Punjab under-19s' 839 with Dhoni's future national squad teammate Yuvraj Singh making 358.Dhoni's contribution for the tournament included 488 runs (9 matches, 12 innings), 5 fifties, 17 catches and 7 stumpings.
Dhoni made it to the East Zone U-19 squad for the CK Nayudu trophy but
scored only 97 runs in four matches as East Zone lost all four matches
and finished last in the tournament.
Bihar cricket team
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.Apart from the century, his performance in the 2000/01 did not include another score over fifty and in 2001/02 season he scored just five fifty in each season in four Ranji matches.
Jharkhand cricket team
Dhoni's performance for the 2002/03 season in the Ranji Trophy
included three half centuries in the Ranji Trophy and a couple of
half-centuries in the Deodhar Trophy competition as he started winning
recognition for his lower-order run 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 trophy. He was part of
the East Zone
squad that won the Deodhar Trophy for the year and contributed with 244
runs in 4 matches. In the Duleep Trophy finals, Dhoni was picked over
International cricketer Deep Dasgupta to represent East zone. He scored a fighting half century in the second innings in a losing cause.
The future captain was discovered via the BCCI's small-town talent-spotting initiative TRDW. Dhoni was discovered by TRDO PC Podar, captain of Bengal in the 1960s, when he saw Dhoni play for Jharkhand at a match in Jamshedpur in 2003, and sent a report to the National Cricket Academy.
India A team
He was recognised for his efforts in the 2003/04 season, especially
in the ODI 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 their target of 223 against Pakistan
'A' with a half-century.Stressing on his performance, he scored back to back centuries – 120and 119*
against the same squad. Dhoni scored 362 runs in 7 matches (6 innings,
Avg:72.40), and his performance in the series received attention from
the then Indian Cricket team captain – Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri amongst others. However, the India 'A' team coach Sandeep Patil recommended Dinesh Karthik for a place in the Indian squad as Wicket-keeper/Batsman.
Indian Premier League
M.S.Dhoni was contracted by the Chennai Super Kings for 1.5 Million USD. This made him the most expensive player in the IPL for the first season auctions.Dhoni is the present captain of the Chennai Super Kings Team. Under his captaincy, Chennai Super Kings have won 2 Indian Premier League titles and the 2010 Champions League Twenty20.
ODI career
The Indian team in the 2000s (decade) saw the use of Rahul Dravid as the wicket-keeper to ensure that the wicket-keeper spot didn't lack in batting talent. The Indian cricket establishment 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 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 Vishakapatnam off only 123 deliveries. Dhoni's 148 surpassed the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper,a record that he would re-write before the end of the year.
Dhoni had few batting opportunities in the first two games of the Sri Lankan bilateral ODI series (October–November 2005) and was promoted to No. 3 in the third ODI at Sawai Mansingh Stadium (Jaipur). Sri Lanka had set India a target of 299 after a Kumar Sangakkara
century and in reply, India lost Tendulkar early. Dhoni was promoted to
accelerate the scoring and ended the game with an unbeaten 183 off 145
balls, winning the game for India– an innings described in Wisden Almanack (2006) as 'Uninhibited, yet anything but crude'.The innings set various records including the highest Individual score in ODI cricket in the second innings, a record that still stands. Dhoni ended the series with the highest run aggregate (346)and was awarded the Man of the series award for his efforts. In December 2005, Dhoni was signed by BCCI to a B-grade contract, skipping the initial C-grade level due to his performance on the cricketing field.
India scored 328 in 50 overs with Dhoni contributing 68 in their first match of 2006 against Pakistan. However the team finished poorly, scoring just 43 runs in the last eight overs and lost the match due to Duckworth-Lewis method.[62]
In the third match of the series, Dhoni came in with India in a
precarious situation and scored 72 runs off just 46 balls that included
13 boundaries to help India take a 2–1 lead in the series.[63][64] The final match of the series had a repeat performance as Dhoni scored 77 runs off 56 balls to enable India win the series 4–1.[65] In recognition of his consistent ODI performances, Dhoni overtook Ricky Ponting as number one in the ICC ODI rankings for batsmen on 20 April 2006.[66] His reign lasted just a week as Adam Gilchrist's performance against Bangladesh moved him to the top spot.[
Two cancelled series in Sri Lanka, one due to the withdrawal of South Africa from the Unitech Cup due to security concerns and the replacement 3-match ODI bilateral series against Sri Lanka washed due to rain, was India's prelude to another disappointing tournament – DLF Cup 2006-07.
Dhoni scored 43 runs as the team lost twice in three games and did not
qualify for the finals. India's lack of preparation showed in the 2006 ICC Champions Trophy as they lost to West Indies and Australia, though Dhoni scored a half-century against West Indies. The story of the ODI series in South Africa
was the same for both Dhoni and India as Dhoni scored 139 runs in 4
matches and India lost the series 4–0. From the start of the WI ODI
series, Dhoni had played 16 matches, hit just two fifties and averaged
25.93. Dhoni received criticism on his wicket keeping technique from
former wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani.
Preparations for the 2007 Cricket World Cup improved as India recorded identical 3–1 victories over West Indies and Sri Lanka
and Dhoni had averages in excess of 100 in both these series. However,
India unexpectedly crashed out the World Cup after losses to Bangladesh
and Sri Lanka. Dhoni was out for a duck in both these matches and scored 29 runs in the tournament. After the loss to Bangladesh in 2007 Cricket World Cup, the house that Dhoni was constructing in his home-town Ranchi was vandalised and damaged by political activists of JMM. The local police arranged for security for his family as India exited the World cup in the first round.
Dhoni put his disappointment in the World cup behind him by scoring 91* against Bangladesh
after India were left in a tight spot earlier in the run-chase. Dhoni
was declared the man of the match for his performance, his fourth in ODI
cricket. He was also later adjudged the man of the series after the
third game of the series was washed away. Dhoni had a good Afro-Asia
Cup, getting 174 runs in 3 matches at an average of 87.00, with a
blitzkrieg 139 not out of 97 balls, a Man of the Match innings, in the
3rd ODI.
Dhoni was nominated as the vice-captain of the ODI team for the
series against South Africa in Ireland and the subsequent India-England
7-match ODI series.
Dhoni, who received a 'B' grade contract in December 2005, was awarded
an 'A' grade contract in June 2007. And also he was elected as captain
of Indian Twenty-20 Cricket Team for the World Twenty20 in September
2007. On 2 September 2007 Mahendra Singh Dhoni equalled his idol Adam
Gilchrist's international record for the most dismissals in an innings
in ODI by catching 5 English players and stumping one.
He led India to the ICC World Twenty 20 trophy in South Africa with a
victory over arch rivals Pakistan in an intensely fought final on 24
September 2007, and became the second Indian captain to have won a World
cup in any form of cricket, after Kapil Dev. Dhoni took his first wicket and ODI wicket on 30 September 2009. He bowled Travis Dowlin from the West Indies.
During the series between India and Australia, Dhoni hit an aggressive
124 runs in just 107 balls, in the second ODI, and a measured knock of
71 runs in 95 balls, along with Yuvraj Singh, saw India home by 6
wickets, in the third ODI.
Dhoni topped the ICC ODI Batsman rankings for several months
continuously in 2009, it was Hussy from Australia who replaced him for
the top spot in the beginning of 2010.
Dhoni had an excellent year in ODIs in 2009 scoring 1198 runs in just
24 innings at an astonishing average of 70.43. Dhoni was also the joint
top-scorer in ODIs in 2009 along with Ricky Ponting, but the latter
having played in 30 innings.
On 12 February 2012, Dhoni made an unbeaten 44 to guide India to their first win over Australia at Adelaide. In the final over, he hit a monstrous six which travelled 112 metres off the bowling of Clint McKay.
During the post-match presentation, he described this six as more
important than the one he hit during the ICC World Cup final in 2011.
Test career
Following his good one-day form against Sri Lanka, Dhoni replaced Dinesh Karthik in December 2005 as the Indian Test wicket-keeper. Dhoni scored 30 runs in his debut match that was marred by rain. Dhoni came to the crease when the team was struggling at 109/5 and as wickets kept falling around him, he played an aggressive innings and was the last man dismissed. Dhoni made his maiden half-century in the second Test and his quick scoring rate (half century came off 51 balls) aided India to set a target of 436 and the Sri Lankans were bowled out for 247.
India toured Pakistan in January/February 2006 and Dhoni scored his
maiden century in the second Test at Faisalabad. India were left in a
tight spot as Dhoni was joined by Irfan Pathan
with the team still 107 away from avoiding follow-on. Dhoni played his
typical aggressive innings as he scored his maiden test century in just
93 balls after scoring his first fifty in just 34 deliveries.
Dhoni followed his maiden test century with some prosaic batting
performances over the next three matches, one against Pakistan that
India lost and two against England that had India holding a 1–0 lead
going into the test match. Dhoni was the top scorer in India's first
innings in the third test at Wankhede Stadium
as his 64 aided India post a respectable 279 in reply to England's 400.
However Dhoni and the Indian fielders dropped too many catches and
missed many dismissal chances including a key stumping opportunity of Andrew Flintoff (14). Dhoni failed to collect the Harbhajan Singh
delivery cleanly as Flintoff went on to make 36 more runs as England
set a target of 313 for the home team, a target that India were never in
the reckoning. A batting collapse saw the team being dismissed for 100
and Dhoni scored just 5 runs and faced criticism for his wicket-keeping
lapses as well as his shot selections.
On the West Indies tour in 2006, Dhoni scored a quick and aggressive 69 in the first Test at Antigua.
The rest of the series was unremarkable for Dhoni as he scored 99 runs
in the remaining 6 innings but his wicket-keeping skills improved and he
finished the series with 13 catches and 4 stumpings.
In the test series in South Africa, Dhoni's scores of 34 and 47 were
not sufficient to save the second test against the Proteas as India lost
the test series 2–1, squandering the chance to build on their first
ever Test victory in South Africa (achieved in the first Test match).
Dhoni's bruised hands ruled him out of the third test match.
On the fourth day of the first Test match at Antigua Recreation Ground, St John's, Antigua during India's tour of West Indies, 2006, Dhoni's flick off Dave Mohammed to the midwicket region was caught by Daren Ganga.
As the batsman started to walk back, captain Dravid declared the
innings when confusion started as the umpires were not certain if the
fielder stepped on the ropes and Dhoni stayed for the umpire's verdict.
While the replays were inconclusive, the captain of the West Indies
side, Brian Lara,
wanted Dhoni to walk-off based on the fielder's assertion of the catch.
The impasse continued for more than 15 minutes and Lara's temper was on
display with finger wagging against the umpires and snatching the ball
from umpire Asad Rauf.
Ultimately, Dhoni walked-off and Dravid's declaration was effected but
the game was delayed, and Lara's action was criticised by the
commentators and former players. Lara was summoned by the match referee
to give an explanation of his actions but he was not fined.
Dhoni scored two centuries in Sri Lanka's tour of India in 2009, a
series of 3 matches in which he led India to a 2–0 victory. With this
feat, India soared up to the number 1 position in Test cricket for the
first time in history. India scored 726–9 (decl) in the third match of
this series, which is their highest Test total ever.
Captain of India
Dhoni was named the captain of India Twenty 20 squad for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa in September 2007. India were crowned champions as Dhoni led the team to victory against Pakistan in a thrilling contest.He, then went on to become the ODI captain of the Indian team for the seven-match ODI series against Australia in September 2007.He made his debut as full-time Test captain of India during the fourth
and final test against Australia at Nagpur in November 2008 replacing Anil Kumble
who was injured in the third test and who then announced his
retirement. Dhoni was vice-captain in this series up to that point.India eventually won that Test thus clinching the series 2–0 and retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.Dhoni had previously captained India on a stand-in basis against South Africa and Australia in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
It was under his captaincy that India climbed to No. 1 in the ICC
Test Rankings in December 2009. After that he managed to lead India in a
series-levelling world championship of Tests against the South Africans
in February 2010.
After winning the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup
for India against Sri Lanka on 2 April 2011 with his match winning
knock of unbeaten 91, Tendulkar heaped praises on Dhoni, claiming him to
be the best captain he has played under. Tendulkar mentioned that it
was Dhoni's calm influence that was rubbing off on all his team-mates
and even under such extreme pressure from every corner the way Dhoni
handles it and brings the best out of him was just incredible. Saurav Ganguly
also said in an interview to a news channel that Dhoni is the all time
greatest captain of India and he has a great record to support this
credential.
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 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 flow of boundaries, ending with 91 not out off 79 balls. Befitting the occasion, he finished the match with a huge six over long-on off bowler Nuwan Kulasekara.
Later he admitted in the post match presentation that he came up the order so as to counter the Muralitharan spin threat as he was very familiar with Murali's bowling, being his team-mate 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 with 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,which got the team winning six was sold for
72 Lac. The money goes to Sakshi Rawat Foundation, operated by Dhoni's wife Sakshi Rawat to help orphan children.