MS Dhoni Biography: Life, Education & Cricket Career– Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an Indian professional cricketer who was born on July 7, 1981 in Ranchi, Bihar (now Jharkhand). From 2007 to 2017, he captained the Indian National Team in limited over formats, and from 2008 to 2014, he captained the team in Test cricket.He plays as a right-handed wicket-keeper-batsman and also the current captain of Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.
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Early life and Childhood
MS Dhoni was born on 7th July, 1981 in a Hindu Rajput family. MS Dhoni’s father Pan Singh worked in junior management position in MECON and his mother Devaki Devi is a housewife.
MS Dhoni attended DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir in Shyamali, Ranchi, where he excelled in sports like badminton and football and was chosen for district and club level contests. When he was in school football team he was a goalkeeper. Once Dhoni’s football coach sent him to take the position of wicket keeper, he impressed everyone by his wicket keeping skills and thereafter Dhoni secured a permanent spot as a wicket-keeper at Commando Cricket Club Team for three years during the period of 1995-98.
MS Dhoni continued to perform admirably as a wicketkeeper and was eventually selected for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy Under16 Championship in 1997-98. MS Dhoni also worked as a Train Ticket Examiner (TTE) at Kharagpur Railway Station which is under South-Eastern Railway in Midnapur District in West Bengal during 2001-2003. Dhoni’s colleagues remember him as a honest, straightforward employee with little mischievous by nature.
MS Dhoni’s Personal Life
Before marrying Sakshi Singh Rawat, Dhoni was in love with Priyanka Jhaa, who died in an accident in 2002 when Dhoni was trying his best to be selected in the Indian Cricket Team. On July 4, 2010, Dhoni married Sakshi singh Rawat, a school buddy. The couple had a baby girl named Ziva on February 6, 2015, while Dhoni was in Australia and the Cricket World Cup 2015 was a week later. He did not return, citing “I am on national duty, other things can wait.”
MS Dhoni’s Professional Life
- Till 1998, Dhoni played for the school team and club cricket.
- In 1998, Dhoni was chosen for the Central Coal Field Limited (CCL) team and was given Rs.50 for every six by Deval Sahay, who chose him for the CCL team.
- Deval Sahay was impressed by Dhoni’s performance and pushed for his selection in Bihar Team.
- In 1999-2000, when he was 18 he got selected in the Senior Bihar Ranji Team.
- He was afterwards chosen for the East Zone Under-19 squad for the CK Naydu trophy. Dhoni finished last in the competition since East Zone lost all of their games.
- During 2002-2003 Dhoni got recognition for his lower-order contribution as well as hard-hitting batting style while he was playing in the Jharkhand team for the Ranji Trophy and Deodar Trophy.
- In the Duleep Trophy Finals, Dhoni was picked over International Cricket Deep Dasgupta to represent the East Zone.
- Dhoni was selected for India A team for the tournament of Zimbabwe and Kenya.
- In 2004-05, Dhoni was selected in ODI team for Bangladesh tour.
- On April 20, 2006, Dhoni overtook Ricky Pointing as the number one batsman in the ICC ODI rankings.
- Due to the poor performance in World Cup 2007, Dhoni’s house was vandalised by acitivists of JMM.
- Dhoni was named as the vice-captain of the ODI team for the series against South Africa and England.
- In September 2007, Dhoni was elected as a captain of the Indian team for the World 20-20 matches.
- On September 30, 2009, Dhoni took his maiden international wicket against the West Indies in the Championship Trophy.
- In 2009 Dhoni topped the batsman ranking.
- In 2011, Dhoni bagged the Man of the match for his outstanding position in 2011 Cricket World Cup and led India to the finals with a victory over Australia in the quarter-finals and Pakistan in the finals.
- In 2013, India won ICC Championship Trophy and Dhoni became the first and the only captain in the history of cricket to claim all the ICC Trophies.
- In 2014, India won the ODI series in England by 3-1 and in India by 2-1 against West Indies.
- During the 2015 World Cup, Dhoni became the first Indian captain to win all the group stage matches in such a tournament.
- In 2017, Dhoni stepped down as a captain of the Indian team in all the limited over formats.
- In the 2014-15 season Dhoni announced his retirement from the test format and played his last test series against Australia.
- In his last test match, Dhoni effected nine dismissals and broke Kumar Sangakkara record for stumpings with 154 in all the formats.
- In the 2019 world cup, Dhoni played well against South Africa. Dhoni scored a half century in the second inning but was run out at a very crucial stage.
- In the first season of IPL, Dhoni was contracted by Chennai Super Kings for US$1.5 million and became the most expensive player in the first season auction.
- The Chennai Super Kings were suspended for two years in 2016, and Dhoni was hired to oversee the team. In 2018, the Chennai Super Kings were resurrected and returned to the IPL under Dhoni’s leadership.In 2019, CSK emerged to be one of the strongest team in the season under the captaincy of Dhoni.
Awards Presented to M.S. Dhoni
- In 2018: Padma Bhushan
- In 2009: Padma Sri
- In 2007-08: Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
- In 2008-09: ICC-ODI player of the year
- In 2006, 2008 to 2014: ICC World ODI XI
- In 2009, 2010 and 2013: ICC World Test XI
- In 2011: Castrol Indian Cricketer of the year.
- In 2006: MTV Youth Icon of the year.
- In 2013: LG People’s Choice Award
- In 2011: received honorary doctorate from De Montfort University.
