Hyderabad: MS Dhoni, one of the stalwarts of Indian cricket and the skipper who was known by the nickname of captain cool started his journey from the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand and made it big into international cricket with his power-hitting and top-notch finishes. His tale is of perseverance, grit, hunger to succeed and shape a bright future at the end.
His first step towards shaping a bright career in the sport started from his hometown by creating whispers in the cricketing circles of Ranchi as he was the teenage boy who used to smash best bowlers of the distinct for maximums at will in spite of no measurable upper-body strength. But, the system failed to spot him for a place in the national squad as players from tier-A cities made it to the national side before him. The young lad with long hair then started to work as a ticket collector for Railways and joined their Ranji Team.
However the future was becoming bright for Dhoni as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) formed a country-wide Training Research Development Wing to search for talent from financially backwards states. The scouts from this wing spotted Dhoni and the wicketkeeper-batter was sent on India A tour to Kenya soon. The right-handed batter showcased his power-hitting skills on that tour paving way for a place in the national side in November 2004.
In his first couple of years only, showed his potential with sublime knocks against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Dhoni amassed 148 runs against Pakistan and went a step further next year when he carved a destruction with a knock of unbeaten 183 runs. There was no looking back after that for the swash-buckling finisher as he went on to have a fine white-ball career often taking the team over the line with his finishes.
Dhoni has scored 4876 runs in Test with an average of 38.09 and 10773 ODI runs with an average of 50.58. He has also amassed 1617 T20I runs in his career at a strike rate of 126.13. The world will always remember Dhoni for his iconic six in the 2011 ODI World Cup to seal the deal against Sri Lanka in the final. He was out of form throughout the whole tournament but played a knock of unbeaten 91 in the final of the marquee event to step up at crucial juncture and help the team lift the silverware.
Captaincy
Dhoni was recommended as the next skipper by senior players in the Indian team like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar and the move paid off for the national side in the long-term.