MS Dhoni

Biography

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (born 7 July 1981) is an Indian professional cricketer, who plays as a wicket-keeper-batsman. Widely regarded as one of the world's greatest wicketkeeper batsmen and captains in the history of the sport, he is known for his explosive batting, wicket-keeping, and leadership skills. 

He was the captain of the Indian national team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. He plays for and captains the Chennai Super Kings franchise in the Indian Premier League.

Born in Ranchi, Bihar (now in Jharkhand), His exceptional wicketkeeping skills allowed him to become the regular wicketkeeper at the Commando Cricket Club (1995–1998), he was picked for the 1997/98 season Vinoo Mankad Trophy Under-16 Championship, where he performed well. 

From 2001 to 2003, He worked as a Travelling Ticket Examiner at Kharagpur railway station under the South Eastern Railway in Midnapore, West Bengal. In Indian domestic cricket, he played for Bihar and then for Jharkhand Cricket team. 

Dhoni's performance in the 2002–03 season included three half-centuries in the Ranji Trophy and a couple of half-centuries in the Deodhar Trophy, as he started gaining recognition for his lower-order contribution as well as hard-hitting batting style.

Dhoni made his ODI debut on 23 December 2004, against Bangladesh in Chittagong, and played his first Test a year later against Sri Lanka. He played his first T20I also a year later against South Africa. 

In 2007, he succeeded Rahul Dravid as ODI captain of team India, later in the year he was appointed as its T20I captain. 

In 2008, he was selected as Test captain. His captaincy record in Test format was mixed, successfully leading India to a series win against New Zealand in 2008 and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (home series in 2010 and 2013) against Australia. 

In other formats, Dhoni is the first cricketer to be a winning captain of all three major ICC trophies, as under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 World Cup, and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, the most by any captain. 

He also led India to victory in the 2010 and 2016 Asia Cup. Additionally, under his leadership, India won the 2010 and 2011 ICC Test Mace and the 2013 ICC ODI Championship. He has scored 17,266 runs in International Cricket (including 10,000 plus runs in ODI Internationals).

He is the captain of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise in the Indian Premier League (IPL), leading them to the final on 10 occasions and winning in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, and 2023 editions of the league, as well as winning the Champions League T20 two times, in 2010 and 2014. 

He is the 7th cricketer to have scored more than 5,000 runs in the IPL, as well as being the first wicket-keeper to do so.

Dhoni received India's highest sports award, the Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna Award in 2008, for his extraordinary performance at the international level in the sport and the Government of India bestowed him by country's fourth highest civilian award Padma Shri in 2009 and third highest civilian award Padma Bhushan in 2018. 

He is the only cricket captain in the world to win all three of the major ICC trophies, under his captaincy India won the 2011 ICC World Cup, the 2007 T20I World Cup, and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. 

Dhoni holds the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Parachute Regiment of the Indian Territorial Army, it was presented to him by the Indian Army in 2011 for his service to the nation as a sportsperson. 

He is considered one of the most popular cricketers in the world. His biopic M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story was released in 2016.

He announced his retirement from Tests on 30 December 2014 and stepped down as captain of T20Is and ODIs in 2017. On 15 August 2020, Mahendra Singh Dhoni retired from all formats of international cricket but continues to play in the Indian Premier League.

Dhoni was born in Ranchi, Bihar (now in Jharkhand) and hails from a Hindu Rajput family to parents from Uttarakhand. He is the youngest of three children of Pan Singh and Devaki Devi. His paternal village Lwali, is in Jainti Tehsil, Lamgara block of the Almora District of Uttarakhand. 

His parents moved from Uttarakhand to Ranchi, Jharkhand where his father worked as a pump operator in a junior management position in MECON Colony situated in the Doranda area in Ranchi. Unlike Dhoni, his uncle and cousins spell their surname "Dhauni".

Previously Dhoni was the goalkeeper for his DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir school's football team, but after seeing his goalkeeping skills, coach Keshav Ranjan Banerjee, one who inspired Dhoni to be a cricketer, picked him to play cricket for his school team.

 His exceptional wicketkeeping skills allowed him to become 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, where he performed well.

From 2001 to 2003, Dhoni worked as a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) at Kharagpur railway station under the South Eastern Railway in Midnapore (W), a district in West Bengal.