Mahendra Singh Dhoni Biography

Who is Mahendra Singh Dhoni?

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an Indian cricketer and former captain of the Indian National Cricket Team. He has the reputation of being an explosive batsmen who remains cool in the most tense of situations.

Where did he grow up?

MS Dhoni or MS as he is fondly known was born in Ranchi, Jharkhand on 7th July, 1981. He has two siblings, Jayanti and Narendra.

Education

Dhoni studied at DAV Hawahar Vidya Mandir 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 Dhoni had not played cricket, Dhoni impressed with his wicket-keeping skills and became a regular keeper for that club.

Bihar U-19

Based on his performance at club cricket, he was picked for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy matches in the 1997/98 season and performed well there. From there on he was included in the Bihar U-19 squad for the 1998/99 season and scored 176 runs in 5 matches. Playing for the Cooch Berar Trophy for Bihar in 1999/2000, Dhoni’s contribution to the tournament included 448 runs (9 matches, 12 innings), 5 fifties, 17 catches and 7 stumpings.

Ranji Trophy debut

Dhoni then later made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar in the 1999-2000 season and three years later based on his fine form, started playing for the India A team in the 2003/2004 season. It was over here where he was spotted by then Indian Cricket captain Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri amongst others.

International Debut

With Dhoni making a mark in the India-A squad, he was picked in the ODI national squad for the Bangladesh tour of 2004/05. Dhoni did not have a great start to his ODI career, getting run out for a duck. He was later picked for the Pakistan ODI series and it is in this tournament where he stamped a permanent place into the Indian ODI side.

Over the years he has built a reputation of being an explosive batsmen who is as cool as a cucumber in the most tense of situations. His ability to maintain a balance in his team has earned him immense respect in the cricketing circles not just in India but across the world. MS Dhoni has tasted success in all formats of the game.

Apart for his love for the game, MS Dhoni is a huge sports enthusiast and has a large collection of bikes and cars. He endorses 15 brands from clothes to cold drinks and his idols include teammate Sachin Tendulkar, actor Amitabh Bachchan and singer Lata Mangeshkar.

MS Dhoni got married on the 4th of July to Sakshi Singh Rawat, a native of Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

What are some of his achievements?

Under his captaincy India have won the the ODI World Cup (2011) as well as the Twenty20 World Cup (2007). He even led his team to the No.1 spot in Test ranking, a feat that had never been achieved by the Indian Team.

Dhoni for his efforts has been awarded the ICC ODI Player of the Year award for two consecutive years in 2008 and 2009 and is also the recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and the Padma Shri, India’s fourth civilian honour in 2009.

Time Magazine lists him amongst the “100 most influential people in 2011” and according to SportsPro magazine, Dhoni is the 10th most valuable brand in the field of sports worldwide and number 1 among all Asian superstars.