Who is the greatest cricketer of all time?
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (born July 7, 1981) is a former Indian international cricketer who captained the Indian national cricket team in limited overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. Under his leadership, India won the inaugural 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup. World Twenty20, 2010 and 2016 Asian Cup, 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. A right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper, Dhoni has scored over 10,000 runs in ODIs (ODIs) and is considered a prolific “finisher” in limited overs formats. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wicket-keeper batsmen and captains in the history of the game. He was the first wicket-keeper to make 100 stumpings in ODI cricket.
Awards and Honors
Dhoni made his ODI debut on 23 December 2004 against Bangladesh, and played his first Test a year later against Sri Lanka. He has been the recipient of many awards, including the ICC ODI Player of the Year award in 2008 and 2009 (the first player to win the award twice), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award in 2007, the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honour, in 2009 and the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian honour, in 2018.[7] Dhoni was named as the captain of the ICC World Test XI in 2009, 2010 and 2013. He has also been selected a record 8 times in ICC World ODI XI teams, 5 times as captain. The Indian Territorial Army conferred the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel[8] to Dhoni on 1 November 2011. He is the second Indian cricketer after Kapil Dev to receive this honour.
Early life and background
Dhoni was born in Ranchi, Bihar (now Jharkhand) to a Hindu Rajput family. Dhoni has a sister Jayanti Gupta and a brother Narendra Singh Dhoni. Dhoni is a fan of Adam Gilchrist, his childhood idols Sachin Tendulkar of the cricket team, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan and singer Lata Mangeshkar
Dhoni, D.A.V. Dhoni was the goalkeeper for his football team and was sent to play cricket at a local cricket club by his football coach. Although he did not play cricket, Dhoni was impressed with his wicket-keeping prowess and became a regular wicket-keeper at the Commando Cricket Club (1995-1998). Based on his performance in club cricket, Dhoni was selected for the 1997/98 season Vinoo Mangat Trophy Under-16 Championship. Dhoni focused on cricket after his 10th standard. From 2001 to 2003 he worked as a Travel Ticket Selector (DTE) at Kharagpur Railway Station under the South Eastern Railway in Midnapore (W), West Bengal District. His colleagues remember him as a very honest employee of Indian Railways.
India A team
He was recognized for his efforts during the 2003/04 season, especially in the one-day format, and was selected in the India A squad for the tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya. Using the Zimbabwe XI team at the Harare Sports Club, Dhoni got his best wicket try with 7 catches and 4 stumpings in the match. In the triangular match between Kenya, India A and Pakistan A, Dhoni helped India A score 223 against Pakistan A. Following his good performances, he scored 120 and 119 * – back-to-back centuries against the same team. Dhoni scored 362 runs in 6 innings at an average of 72.40 and his performance in the series garnered attention from the then Indian captains – Saurav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri.
Career Information
Test debut: vs Sri Lanka at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Dec 02, 2005
Last Test: vs Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Dec 26, 2014
ODI debut: vs Bangladesh at MA Aziz Stadium, Dec 23, 2004
Last ODI: vs New Zealand at Emirates Old Trafford, Jul 09, 2019
T20 debut: vs South Africa at The Wanderers Stadium, Dec 01, 2006
Last T20: vs Australia at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Feb 27, 2019
Dhoni has been named vice-captain of the ODI team for the series against South Africa in Ireland and the subsequent India-England seven-match ODI series. Dhoni, who was awarded a ‘B’ rating in December 2005, was awarded an ‘A’ rating in June 2007. He was also selected as the captain of the Indian team for the World Twenty20 in September 2007. On September 2, 2007, Dhoni equaled his idol Adam Gilchrist’s record for most dismissals in an ODI by catching five Englishmen and stumping one.
2011 Cricket World Cup
Under Dhoni, India won the 2011 World Cup. In the final against Sri Lanka, Dhoni chased down 275 runs to elevate himself in the batting order. When he came to bat, India needed more than six runs in an over, already three top-order batsmen out. On this occasion, long-time bowler Nuwan Kulasekara finished the match in style with a big six and won the Man of the Match award.
Retirement from international cricket
On India’s 74th Independence Day, on August 15, 2020, Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket. By posting a video on Instagram he has included pictures of the best and worst moments of his life, with the song My Ball To Ball Ka Shair Hoon in the background. The video is titled “Thank you all for your love and support. I consider myself retired since 1929.”
In November 2020, Dhoni was nominated for the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year award.
