Mahendra Singh Dhoni popularly known as Mahi was born at Ranchi in seventh July 1981. He is currently skipper in all three international forms of cricket. He is captain of test, one day international and T20 Indian national cricket team. At the beginning of his career, he was a clean and strong hitter of a cricket ball. He was attacking the batsman from the beginning of his innings. He had very unconventional style of batting. His helicopter shot is testimony of his talent and unconventional cricket.
He had changed the way to play cricket by simplifying the game of cricket with the introduction of hit the ball style game play. Dhoni is a very positive thinker and speaks less, but speaks with conviction and determination. He had seen Indian cricketing glories as well as falling from the grace. He had burdened the legacy of Indian cricket with his broad Herculean shoulders without worrying about passing the buck to others.
After a disaster world cup performance in 2007 under Dravid captaincy, where India failed to pass through preliminary stages, and defeated by minnows such as Bangladesh, Dravid had to leave captaincy and the buck shifted to Dhoni, as he was tasted for the first time in 2007, T20 world cup. He had a very young team as seniors opted out from this. Though at later times it came to light that Dravid might have suggested to clear seniors without acquiring consent of Sachin. Sachin expressed his mild dissatisfaction over the non inclusion of the team.
Youthful team under Dhoni performs in excellent to win T20 world cup; it was so significant that India had won the next ICC world cup after 1983 won by England. Dhoni has won the ICC ODI player of the year for 2008 and 2009. He is famous as a great finisher in each aspect of international cricket. His average in one day worldwide has been nearing to fifty. It is an amazing feat considering his batting position and the state of the match situation he had been into the game of play.
His early life:
Name of his father is Pan Singh and his mother is Devaki Devi. His ancestors hailed from Almora district of Uttarakhanda. His father shifted his base from Uttarakhanda to Ranchi after getting the job from MECON company. He received his elementary education at DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, Shyamali, Ranchi. He was an excellent badminton and football goalkeeper in his school days. He had excelled in many forms of game play. Since his birth, it is evident that one day he would be an international sports star. He had shown his excellent mantle in keeping wickets and for this he was selected for Commando Club as wicket keeper.
He performed excellently there for three long years from 1995 to 1998. His wicket keeping and batting added attractions for many and for this he was selected for 1997 to play in Vinoo Mankad Trophy Under-16 Championship. He is a right hand batter and wicket keeper. He was aggressive batsman and he can hit the long sky rocketing sixes with ease. Class is permanent. He was selected for Bihar Ranji Trophy regional team at a tender age of 17. He was selected for the India A tour to Kenya and there he performed beyond expectations and ultimately he was selected as wicket keeper of the national cricket team.
Dhoni is a back foot player and most of his shot making deals with bottom handed shots. At the beginning of his innings, he starts scoring slowly and after getting his eyes on the state of wicket. He starts his stroke plays all around the field. His shots mark the signs of plenty of brute power with shot making against the tide of game play and within a few minutes he can run away with matches from oppositions. Dhoni believes in playing fearless school of cricket. He respects seniors and also he wants continuous improvement of the class of cricket. He wants to play well in foreign pitches and short pitched deliveries. Dhoni replaced Dravid as wicket keeping batsman as it was evident the experiment with Dravid was going to be a flopped show in terms of wicket keeping. Dhoni earned his place with some masterful performances in domestic seasons.
Emergence of Dhoni in India’s domestic circuit began from the year 1999-2000. He played Cooch Behar Trophy and reached his state team Bihar to the finals. They encountered Punjab in the clash of finals. Bihar batted first and with the help of a hurricane knock of 84. Bihar posted a promising challenge to Punjab in the first innings score of 357. Punjab batted brilliantly and posted over 800 runs in reply to Bihar. Yuvraj Singh scores 358, one run ahead of Bihar’s first innings score of 357. In this edition of Cooch Behar Trophy, Dhoni scored five fifties in nine matches as wicket keeper batter. He was brilliant in every sphere of innings and he had scored with determination and power throughout this tournament. Later on he was selected for eastern zone C.K. Naydu under 19 trophies, but he performed poorly in that tournament.
Dhoni was selected for Bihar Ranji team for the first time in the year 1999-2000. He scored a valiant unbeaten fifty in the second innings of his debut match against weaker oppositions Assam. He scored his maiden first class century in the second Ranji season against the stronger opposition of the Bengal side. First two Ranji seasons’ performance was not so exceptional for him. In the third season, he scored five 50s in four matches. In the subsequent season, his fourth Ranji season he mastered three 50s. Apart from this in that season in the Deodhar Trophy, the one day domestic tournament, he scored two 50s.
His best season began at the commencement of 2003-04 domestic championships. In the opening match, he smashed a century against Assam. He was instrumental in making the east zone champion in prestigious Deodhar Trophy one day domestic tournament. He played wonderfully in Duleep Trophy finals. It is a tournament consisting of five zonal teams. He batted with passion and played a fighting century but could not prevent the eastern zone from defeat.
For his consistent performances with his bat and gloves, he was in the center of attraction for Indian selectors. He was only the second wicket keeper after Farooq Engineer to be considered as the most prolific attacking batter. He is a flamboyant batter with wonderful stroke playing all around and up above the galleries. He was selected for the India A tour to Zimbabwe and Kenya. In those times, both teams were performing well and this it is like a challenge for the entire India A team. Dhoni performed brilliantly behind the wickets. In the next India A tour, it was a tri-nation tournament and he showed his class in that tournament. In seven matches, he had an average of more than 72. He scored in crunch situations in these one day tournaments. He scored heavily with lightening bat speed and also instrumental in making brilliant wicket keeping behind the wicket.
Dhoni was finally selected for international one day cricket team of India for the tour of Bangladesh in 2004-05. His wicket keeping competitors is Dinesh Kartik and Partiv Patel, both came up the ranks from junior level cricket and both showed signs of attacking game play and some brilliant wicket keeping. In the main match, he was ran himself out for a duck. It was also evident that many great player started their international career from duck. Players like Sir. Vivian Richards, Shewag who started their career with duck, eventually became notorious for their extended hitting and high scoring. After a disappointing Bangladesh debut series, Dhoni was selected again against Pakistan who was touring India. In the second match he scored 148 of just 123 balls and India won that match convincingly.
It was the highest score by Indian wicket keeper batter and he created the record and showed the glimpse of his master class in that match. It was an eye opener innings for the entire cricketing communities all around the world. He started his career with this high class knock. In the ensuing series, Sri Lanka came to India. In the third one day international, India was chasing a challenging target set by SriLanka. Sachin departed early and Dhoni was promoted to first down in the batting order. He scored 184 off 145 balls and became the highest individual scorer as wicket keeper batsman in one day internationals all over the world. Eventually he amassed 346 runs and man of the series.
In the ensuing series, tour to Pakistan, Dhoni scored three fifties and helped India to win the ODI series in Pakistan for the first time in the history. With his unfailing performance, he became number one ODI batsman in ICC ranking for the first time on April 20, 2006. His idle Adam Gilchrist had an admirable series against Bangladesh and he became number one and Dhoni slipped to second spot in ODI ICC rankings for batsman. In the year 2006, India ODI performance reached bad to worse and team suffered a slump and was in losing side more than ever. In these times, the saving grace was the batting form of Dhoni as from time to time he had tried his best to score fifties to save India from disappointing losses. India performed testing to worse in Champion Trophy, DLF cup and series against South Africa. World Cup 2007 was nearing and India’s prospects of winning there were slim.
There were coaching issues of Chappell and its peculiar methods of coaching which were not supported by many. It seemed that he had implemented the divide and rule policy. Prior to the World Cup. India hosted the West Indies and Sri Lanka, and defeated both teams in that series. That made the hum and roar that India was back into reckoning of the world cup. The principal problem with the team at that time was the disturbing dressing rooms and there was a yawning gap among players due to some not so favorable coaching standards. In 2007 world cups in the West Indies, India received shocking losses to SriLanka and Bangladesh respectively. Dhoni scored disappointing docks in both the matches. India received quick exits from the world cup. In the last 20 years, it was the most disappointing finish for team India in world cup. Dhoni’s house was vandalized and stoned. There were protests all over India against players.
Surprisingly, in the resulting series just after world cup, against Bangladesh, India won the series and Dhoni received the man of the series award for his exceptional on time need batting performances. Dhoni came back from his batting slump with style. It was the sign of revival of team India. In the mean time unsuccessful coach Chapell’s contract was not renewed and Dravid left captaincy of team India following a disappointing show at the world cup. It was the most dismal performance by the team to India in world cup after 1983 Prudential World Cup wins. Dhoni became captain for T20 world cup to be played in South Africa in September 2007. In this mini world cup, being played at the same year as that of the world cup. India won the final beating Pakistan in a thriller and in this match the world saw the glimpses of smart decision making on the part of Captain Cool Dhoni.
It was the second world cup win after famous 1983 Prudential World Cup victories. India had to wait for 24 years in order to win an ICC world cup tournament. Though it was T20 world cup win still the taste of victory was sweet as ever. People who were opposing and shouting slogans during world cup loss at West Indies could not believe this unexpected win. People began to forget the shameful loss of the world cup and they replaced this with this fantastic T20 world cup wins.
The team was without the so called seniors of that time, Dravid, gradually and Sachin and still it performs up above par and won matches at fast tracks of South Africa. India won tightly fought final match of T20 world Cup against Pakistan in September 24, 2007. Dhoni took his first wicket in an ODI match in 30th September 2009 against West Indies. He bowled Travis Dowlin of the West Indies. Against Australia, he scored a century and followed by a well compiled 70s in the next match to bring home the series. In 2009, he holds the top ICC ODI ranking batsman for several months. In the next year, Hussey wrested this position from him.
In 2009, he scored more than 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI with an average over the 70s. Ponting performed brilliantly, but he plays six more matches than Dhoni to score some runs. Dhoni was fast becoming a rare talent as the days rolled over. M S Dhoni is the first Indian captain to score a one-day international century against Australia. He scored 124 off 107 balls at Nagpur in 2009. Eventually, this score of 124, is the highest score by any captain against Australia. Dhoni is a fearless cricketer and he plays cricket with his heart out. He is unfazed by criticisms and his failures. For the first time, India has a captain who is not nervous and captaincy is not affecting his performance. He sends fears within opposition ranks and continual improvement in the quality of cricket is his soul mate. He is fearless and a great leader. In Indian Premier League, playing for Chennai as captain he has made his team a successful one and most of the edition of IPL they reached final or won the competition.
He finds the talent and backs them to become the most ferocious player. Raina and Jadeja are two examples where Dhoni backed them and they are now producing spectacular cricket. Both are brilliant fielders and a wonderful player. Recent champions Trophy victory shows how talented players groomed in a congenial environment can become match winners. In all matches, Jadeja performed better than the main spinner in the side Ashwin. Judea won the Golden Ball Award for the maximum number of wickets. Dhoni backed many players. After the world cup triumph, India’s performance slides downwards and ultimately it is the mettle of Dhoni that drove the team to the path of recovery. Former Indian captain once told about the stress related to this foremost job. One has to be in continual pressure from emerging media as well as from people of a nation. Every move of yours will be carefully investigated by media and people of this country.
After Champions trophy victory, smiles spread across Dhoni’s face. It is meant for him as India with a young and inexperienced team managed to beat a tough side like that of the West Indies, Sri Lanka, Australia, South Africa, England and Pakistan. It is a fantastic achievement and a suitable preparation for the next edition of the World Cup. India won this in England, where it managed to defend a paltry target of 130 and this after the match, Dhoni erupted with joy a few times inside ground. Opening time an animated Dhoni after the match celebration. It is not on the maximum standard like that of Kohli, but Dhoni expressed his feeling a sign that these are all hard-fought win and they deserve this.
Dhoni was brilliant behind the stumps, his stumping of Trott was crucial in recently concluded Champions Trophy and he had shown the world that why he will be the greatest wicket-keeper of all time in times to come. Former England captain and a past critic of the Indian team lauded Dhoni and he said in the previous series where India had to face a whitewash on the hands of England, Dhoni’s wicket-keeping raising eyebrows with plenty of mistakes. Nevertheless, the role played by Dhoni in shaping a national team to believe what they can and achieve one hundred percentages is of the single most important achievement that brings successes and glories to him.
Under him, India reached number one test team and won the ICC Test Championship for the first time, then won the T20 world cup, and 50 overworld cups and now recent win at mini world cup makes him the most successful captain of winning championships. It is an achievement not competed by Ponting. In the recently concluded mini world cup, India won matches right from practice games with fast and spin bowling. In one practice game for the entire Australian side bowled out for meagre under 100. Some nice fast bowling enable India to beat Sri Lanka. Ishant and Umesh bowled their heart out and dismissed their opposition in disdain. They injured hard hitter Dilshan and that made the much-needed pathway. Jadeja’s brilliance in bowling and in fielding department apart from Ashwin the whole team becomes a live wire and in one such match Raina tool, three spectacular sleep catches to break the backbone of the opposition.
As Vaughan says, mini world cup winner this year is better than a world cup victory of 2011. The team at that time was the mixture of seniors and juniors. Some seniors felt this could be their last world cup. The host of the world cup was India. With favourable pitches in the offering, India excels in various spheres. The mini world cup is luminous because India had to play as alien conditions and sometimes the remote-id beyond tolerance. India never lost a match in this edition of the mini world cup. India shines in all departments.
Batting department shows vast improvement because of courageous stroke plays against imminent impending short-pitched bowling. In one mini world cup, batting of India falters due to short-pitched bowling. This time players showed the brilliance and attacked bowling with disdain. India’s batting beginning from Dhawan has been phenomenal and the approach batters attacked the bowling is a joy to watch out. The emergence of Moustache by Indian cricketer begins from Dhawan and it is spreading to other players like wildfire and this shows the dazzling display of batting among all Indians batters.
Captaincy is all about coolness of mind in adverse conditions. It is all about taking calculated risks and surprise the opposition with your nifty moves. Dhoni is an unexpected decision-maker. He wants to take the risk and also always ready to accept failure. He stays in the background when the achievement occurs. He has the champion mind and his pre-emptive actions surprise all with some dazzling moves. India is resting assured that its cricketing mantle has been with the strong captain. Thus rise in India towards the top begins.
