Mahendra Singh Dhoni life and biography

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an Indian cricketer and the current captain of the Indian national cricket team. Mahendra was introduced to cricket by his football coach and was sent to play cricket for a local club. The outcome was surprising as he impressed his coach with his wicket-keeping skills. As a result he was picked for 1997/98 season of Vinoo Mankad Trophy and did outstanding in the tournament.

Dhoni started focusing on cricket after high school. He played for his club, for the U-19 Bihar team in 1998/99 and represented Bihar in Ranji Trophy 1999 season. He played his first first-class match for India A team against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club. His performance in this tour got the attention of then Indian Captain Saurav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri.

Dhoni came into the spotlight after the Zimbabwe tour and was picked for Bangladesh tour in 2004/05. He played his first ODI against Bangladesh on December 23, 2004 and was run out on duck. He was then picked for Pakistan ODI series and made his first century in his fifth ODI with a brilliant 148 off 123 balls.

But he announced his arrival in International cricket with a brilliant and fast paced innings of 183* off just 145 balls against Sri Lanka at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. That inning broke many records and India won that game. Dhoni was adjudged the man of the match and the man of the series.

He made his test debut against Sri Lanka 30 December 2, 2005 and scored 30 runs in his first innings as a test player. Dhoni scored his maiden test century against Pakistan at Faisalabad.

Many series followed and Dhoni improved with every passing match. India was ousted in the first round from ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 and from their on a new chapter started in his life. He was awarded the captaincy of Team India for the first ever T20 Cricket World Cup in South Africa in 2007. Dhoni led the team to victory and got praises from the former players. This led to him being appointed as the ODI captain of team India for the 7 match series against Australia in September 2007.

Dhoni got national attention after he led team India to T20 World Cup victory in South Africa. He was awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2007/08 and then the prestigious Padma Shri in 2009. He was adjudged the ICC ODI player of the year 2009.

Under Dhoni's captaincy, India won the 2011 World Cup. In the final against Sri Lanka, chasing 275, Dhoni promoted himself up the batting order, coming before Yuvraj Singh. When he came to bat India needed more than six runs per over with three top order batsmen already dismissed. He started building a good partnership with Gautam Gambhir. Due to good strokeplay and active running between wickets, they kept up with the required run rate. Dhoni was on 60 off 60 balls, but later accelerated with a greater flow of boundaries, ending with 91 not out off 79 balls. Befitting the occasion, he finished the match with a huge six over long-on off bowler Nuwan Kulasekara.

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