Essays

In a country where cricket is nothing less than a national obsession and a land where, be it God or the devil, both eat, sleep cricket and most certainly wear cricket with their hearts right on their sleeves, where the game' takes a near fanatical angle, this 26-year old from the backwaters of Jharkhand sparked off instant national celebration after leading Team India to lift the 2011 world cup Trophy. This was another historical win for Team India and the entire nation, after the success of inaugural Twenty-20 World Cup at Johannesburg in South Africa on 24th September, 2007.

'Mahi', as Mahendra Singh Dhoni is popularly known, was born on July 7.1981 to Pan Singh and Devaki Dev at Ranchi in Bihar. Dhoni's parents had moved to Ranchi from Uttarakhand where his father works in a junior management position in Mecon. He has a sister and a brother. Dhoni is a fan of Adam Gilchrist and his childhood idols were teammate Sachin Tenduikar, the Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan and the melody-queen Lata Manqeshkar.

Dhoni studied at DAV School, Shyamdh. in Ranchi where he initially excelled in badminton and football, and was selected at district and club levels in these sports. For his football team, Dhoni was a goal keeper and was sent to play cricket for a local cricket club by his football coach. Though he had not played cricket before, Dhoni impressed with his wicket keeping skills and became the regular wicket keeper of his cricket club. Dhoni started focussing completely on his cricket after 10th standard. He was also good at studies in his school.

Dhoni was included in the Bihar U-19 squad for the 1998-99 season and later made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar in the 1999-2000 season as an eighteen year old. He made a half century in his debut. In 2004. he became a serious contender for national selection with some stirring performances when the occasion demanded—a rapid 100 which helped East Zone clinch the Deodhar Trophy and an audacious 60 in the Duleep Trophy final. Later, his two centuries against Pakistan A, in the triangular tournament in Kenya, established himself as a clinical destroyer of the bowling attacks.

In his fifth one-dayer only, against Pakistan, at Vishakapatnam, he cracked a dazzling 148, followed by a colossal 183 not out at Jaipur against Sri Lanka and in the process eclipsed the highest score by a wicket keeper by Adam Gilchrist. In Test matches also, he was an instant hit, cracking 148 at Faisalabad against Pakistan, in only his fifth test, when India was struggling to avoid the follow on. He was elevated to the vice-captaincy of the one-day squad for the tour of England and Ireland in 2007. And soon after, was appointed the captain of Twenty -20 squad for the World Championship in South Africa. Watching his performance in just a few of the T'20 World Cup matches in South Africa, the selectors handed the reigns of one-day team to him after Rahul Dravid decided to step down as captain.

A powerful hitter of the ball, MS Dhoni has shown the maturity to restrain his aggressive nature and play a responsible innings when the situation requires so. As a leader on the field, he is coolness personified. The ever-manipulating cricketing brain beneath the long locks knows how to get the best out of his team. Imagine, asking and motivating a person new to international arena (Joginder Sharma) to bowl over opponents at Johannesburg and bringing joy in the lives of one billion plus people!