Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an icon in Indian cricket with his success as the captain of the national team unparalleled in India’s cricketing history.
Since making his debut against Bangladesh in an ODI over 12 years ago, the Ranchi-born man might have replaced the long hair with a golden mane that caught the imagination of the nation but there are few things which have remained unchanged in this journey.
His solidity behind the stumps, big hits and calm temperament have remained the hallmarks of his cricketing career.
As the Indian stalwart celebrates his 36th birthday on Friday, here a few things you might never have heard about the maverick.
While his cricketing exploits speak for themselves, not many know that Dhoni also excelled in badminton and football too while in school. A student of the DAV School in Ranchi, the former Travelling Ticket Examiner (T.T.E) was good enough to make it to the district and club level in both sports.
#MS Dhoni playing a football match involving Silli Football Academy at Silli Stadium near Ranchi. #CricketPhotos pic.twitter.com/vVv6YogqNM
— Cricket Photos (@cricphotos) July 30, 2015
While we have seen the heights Dhoni has scaled in cricket, it would not be crazy to think that he might have had a similar career in the other two sports seeing his dedication and passion.
It was Gilchrist’s explosive style which Dhoni idolized.
There is no shortage of inspiration when it comes to choosing idols in a cricket frenzied nation like India but Indians all over the world might just be thanking former Australia wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist. Dhoni has said that he idolized the swashbuckling Aussie in his junior cricket days and it is no surprise to note that Dhoni burst onto the scene as an attacking wicket-keeper batsman who loved taking the fight to the opposition bowlers from the very start.
The ex-Indian skipper was selected for his Duleep Trophy debut for Bihar against Tripura in Agartala in 2001. However, due to a delay in the communication about his selection, by the time the young Dhoni got the news about his selection, the rest of the team had already arrived at the venue for the match.
One of his best friends then took it upon himself to get the future Indian superstar to Agartala and arranged money from locals to hire a car so that Dhoni could get to the venue in time. It ended up being a futile attempt with the car breaking down midway during the journey forcing Bihar to field another ex India keeper Deep Dasgupta as the man behind the stumps for the match.
We all know that Dhoni loves to turn the arm over in the nets.
He is a man who finds it difficult to stay out of the action for long and there have been a few instances where he has thrown off his keeping pads to have a bowl.
Dhoni Bowling !!Left Arm 😍 #dhoni #cricket #INDvsAUS #IPL2017 #kohli pic.twitter.com/l8jmAX2fOj
— Dhoni Believer (@DhoniBelievers) March 5, 2017
Although, not many will remember that the Ranchi man has also claimed a wicket in the international arena. His sole scalp came against the West Indies in the ICC Champions Trophy in Johannesburg, with Dhoni crashing the stumps of Travis Dowlin with his gentle medium pace.
Dowlin will now forever have the honor of being Dhoni’s only wicket in internationals seeing as the chances of the wicket-keeper taking up bowling duties again remain slim.
Only Few Cricketers Have Own shots
— தோணி தனுஷ் விக்கி 💖 (@Dhanush_Viki) July 6, 2017
But Most Favorite Is #MSDhoni in #HelicopterShot #HappyBirthdayMSD#HappyBirthdayMSD @msdhoni 🎂🎂💐🎂🎁🎂 pic.twitter.com/fqSu15dKmF
The signature Dhoni shot, the ‘helicopter’, has commentators and fans alike marveling in its uniqueness but was not invented by the man himself.
The stalwart has credited the famous shot to one of close friends and ex Jharkhand team-mate Santosh Lal. While Lal passed away sadly at the age of 32, it is his imagination and inventiveness that has led to the fame acquired by the highly unorthodox shot.
Sachin was the one to forward Dhoni’s name for captaincy.
Dhoni’s captaincy got off to the perfect start when he lead his country to victory in the inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa back in 2007 and since then the legend has only grown. What is not as widely known is it was in fact the God of Indian cricket, Tendulkar, who recommended the Ranchi man for the Indian captaincy.
The then BCCI President Sharad Pawar had gone on record to state the same and the story goes that the BCCI President reluctantly approached Sachin for captaincy after then Indian skipper Rahul Dravid had wanted to relinquish the role to concentrate on his batting.
Sachin himself was reluctant to take up skipper duties and instead suggested the name of Dhoni who he claimed had a fine relationship with all the players.
