Mahendra Singh Dhoni, sometimes abbreviated as MS Dhoni, महेन्द्र सिंह धोनी) (born July 7, 1981 in Lavali Village ) is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian team. Initially recognized as an extravagantly flamboyant and destructive batsman, Dhoni has come to be regarded as one of the coolest heads to captain the Indian ODI side. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 ,CB Series of 2007-08 _ and IDEA Cup India-Sri Lanka ODI Series of 2008, the first ever bilateral ODI series win of India in Sri Lanka and the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2008 in which they beat Australia 2-0. Currently Dhoni is the top ODI batsman in the ICC ODI rankings. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was awarded the ODI Player of the Year award in 2008, the first Indian player to achieve this feat.He was conferred the Padma Shri , India's fourth highest civilian honour, in 2009
Personal life:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was born in Ranchi ,Jharkhand 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.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 ,(now the school is known as JVM , Shyamli,Ranchi) Ranchi,Jharkahnd 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 .
Playing Style:
Dhoni is an aggressive 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 feets do not show much movement which sometimes results in chasing balls while not coming to the pitch of the ball or inside edging a lot of balls.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 SriLanka 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.As a batsman, Dhoni has shown the maturity to restrain his aggressive nature and play a responsible innings when the situation requires. Apart from traditional shots, Dhoni has two very unorthodox but effective cricket strokes. Since his entry into the Indian cricket team, Dhoni's aggressive batting style, success on the field, personality, and long hair have made him one of the most marketable cricketers in India.
ODI careerODI Career of Dhoni. Brown line indicates 10 match average while the orange line indicates career average progressionThe Indian team in the 2000s 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/. 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 erased 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 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.
