Who is MS Dhoni ?

Born in Ranchi, Bihar (now in Jharkhand) to Pan Singh and Devaki Devi on July 7, 1981.

• Sported long hair which he has now shortened, despite the then Pak President Pervez Musharraf wanting him not to do so!. He cut it because he wanted to look like his favourite film star John Abraham.


• Loves bikes. Has a Hummer to add to the four cars and 23 high-speed motorcycles already parked in his garage in Ranchi

• Endorses more than 20 brands form clothes to soft drinks.

• Is one of the highest income tax payers in last year

•Is a fan of Adam Gilchrist. His childhood idols were batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan and singer Lata Mangeshkar.

• Studied at DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, Shyamali, in Ranchi. (Now the school is known as JVM, Shyamli). Apparently, Sakshi(His wife)studied in the same school too.

• Initially excelled in badminton and football and was selected at district and club level in these sports. Was a goalkeeper for his football team and was sent to play cricket for a local cricket club by his football coach.

• Married his childhood friend, and girlfriend of two years, Sakshi Singh Rawat, 23, on July 4, 2010


CRICKET CAREER:
• Was a regular wicketkeeper at the Commando cricket club (1995-1998).

• Based on his performance at club cricket, was picked for the 1997/98 season Vinoo Mankad Trophy Under-16 Championship and he performed well

• Debuted for Bihar in 1998-99 season

• Was selected to represent India-A for a tour to Kenya in 2004

• Made in India debut against Bangaldesh in Dhaka in December 2004. Was run out for a duck.

• Set a world record for the highest score in the second innings in ODIs when he scored 183* against Sri Lanka in October 2005. It is the highest score ever by a wicketkeeper.


• In December 2005, was awarded a B-grade contract by the BCCI. Earlier, he was at C-grade level

• Made Test debut against Sri Lanka in Chennai in December 2005

• Became No 1 ODI batsman on 20 April, 2006, replacing Ricky Ponting. Lasted for just one week at that spot.

• Scored ducks in losses against Bangladeshand Sri Lanka as India crashed out of 2007 World Cup in March 2007. Had to be given police security in Ranchi

• Was named ODI vice-captain on tour of England in June 2007

• On September 2, equalled Gilchrist's record of most dismissals in an ODI (5 catches, 1 stumping)

Was named captain of the Indian team for the World T20 in September 2007

• Made his Test captaincy debut against South Africa in April 2008 as Anil Kumble was injured Resumed full-time Test captaincy in November 2008 in the third Test against Australia at Nagpur


Highlights of Dhoni's career:
- Dhoni also holds the records of the most dismissals in an innings by an Indian wicketkeeper in an ODI (with Adam Gilchrist) with 6 dismissals (5 catches and one stumping) against England.

- In Tests, Dhoni's maiden century against Pakistan in Faisalabad (148) is the fastest century scored by an Indian wicket keeper. Only three centuries by two players ( Kamran Akmal and Adam Gilchrist - 2) were faster than Dhoni's 93-ball century.

- He also holds the record for most catches by an Indian player in an innings. He achieved this feat by taking six catches during the first innings of the third test against New Zealand in Wellington, thus equalling Syed Kirmani's record.

- Under Dhoni's captaincy, India reached their highest test score of 726-9 (decl) during Sri Lanka's tour of India in 2009. Their 2-0 victory in the series took them to the number 1 ranking in Test cricket for the first time in history.


- Under his captaincy India has won the first Twenty 20 cricket world cup which happened in South Africa, defeating the arch rivals Pakistan. Winnings moments

- Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India has won the World cup 2012 which held in the sub-continent defeating Srilanka by 6 wickets, the match winnings performance was shared by Gautam Gambhir and MSD himself.