Mahendra Singh Dhoni was born in Ranchi, Bihar (now in Jharkhand) in a Rajput family to Pan Singh and Devaki Devi. 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 and a brother Narendra. Dhoni had long hair which he has now shortened; he cut it because he wanted to look like his favourite film star John Abraham(actor). He likes bikes. A Hummer to add to the four cars and 23 high-speed motorcycles already parked in his garage in Ranchi. He endorses 15 brands from clothes to cold Drinks. He is also one of the highest income tax payers in last year 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 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 married Sakshi on 4 July 2010. Sakshi Dhoni, a native of Dehradun, Uttarakhand. At the time of their marriage, she was studying Hotel Management and was working as a trainee at the Taj Bengal, Kolkata. Both, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sakshi Rawat were school time friends and had studied together at DAV School, Shamily in Ranchi and their families also have very good relation.
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 yearDhoni 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.[5] The shot that he plays is fondly called "The Helicopter Shot".
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.
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 – 120 and 119* against the same squad. Dhoni scored 362 runs in 7 matches (6 innings, Ave:72.40), and his performance in the series received attention from the then captain – Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri amongst others. However, the India 'A' team coach Sandeep Patil recommended Karthik for a place in the Indian squad as wicket-keeper/batsman.
Dhoni was named the captain of India Twenty 20 squad for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa in September 2007.[58] India were crowned champions as Dhoni led the team to victory against Pakistan in a thrilling contest.[59] He, then went on to become the ODI captain of the Indian team for the seven-match ODI series against Australia in September 2007.[60] 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.[61] India eventually won that Test thus clinching the series 2–0 and retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.[62] 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 Feb 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.
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 a massive
72 Lac by a England based Indian company. The money goes to Sakshi Rawat Foundation, operated by Dhoni's wife Sakshi Rawat to help orphan children.
With the ongoing England tour proving 2 b the worst tournament so far having lost the test series 4-0, the t20 match and the one day series 2-0 with one 2 play today, this is also the last odi match for Rahul Dravid (343ODI so far) hope he will get a better retirement game today
He is the best caption so far ive seen as he took his team CSK 2 ipl finals for 3 times out of four and won it 2 times leading his team 2 tittle of ACLT20 2010 and hope he will defend it . the champions league is commencing from 19 of this month.................best of luck MSD.
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 married Sakshi on 4 July 2010. Sakshi Dhoni, a native of Dehradun, Uttarakhand. At the time of their marriage, she was studying Hotel Management and was working as a trainee at the Taj Bengal, Kolkata. Both, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sakshi Rawat were school time friends and had studied together at DAV School, Shamily in Ranchi and their families also have very good relation.
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 yearDhoni 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.[5] The shot that he plays is fondly called "The Helicopter Shot".
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.
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 – 120 and 119* against the same squad. Dhoni scored 362 runs in 7 matches (6 innings, Ave:72.40), and his performance in the series received attention from the then captain – Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri amongst others. However, the India 'A' team coach Sandeep Patil recommended Karthik for a place in the Indian squad as wicket-keeper/batsman.
Dhoni was named the captain of India Twenty 20 squad for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa in September 2007.[58] India were crowned champions as Dhoni led the team to victory against Pakistan in a thrilling contest.[59] He, then went on to become the ODI captain of the Indian team for the seven-match ODI series against Australia in September 2007.[60] 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.[61] India eventually won that Test thus clinching the series 2–0 and retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.[62] 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 Feb 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.
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 a massive
72 Lac by a England based Indian company. The money goes to Sakshi Rawat Foundation, operated by Dhoni's wife Sakshi Rawat to help orphan children.With the ongoing England tour proving 2 b the worst tournament so far having lost the test series 4-0, the t20 match and the one day series 2-0 with one 2 play today, this is also the last odi match for Rahul Dravid (343ODI so far) hope he will get a better retirement game today
He is the best caption so far ive seen as he took his team CSK 2 ipl finals for 3 times out of four and won it 2 times leading his team 2 tittle of ACLT20 2010 and hope he will defend it . the champions league is commencing from 19 of this month.................best of luck MSD.
