Mahendra Singh Dhoni or Mahi and Indian Cricket

The number seven at the 22 yards field is now familiar only for him, he is Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Dhoni, one of the most popular names in the world sports world, has created a sensation among uncountable sports lovers. It is a matter of pride for us that this constant called Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one among the 130 crore people of India. In one sentence, Dhoni is one of the most popular names in the world of cricket, who is not only in India but also equally popular in all countries of the world. Mahendra Singh Dhoni who has been recognized as the best feature of all time in the world. He has started unique techniques as a wicketkeeper. He captained the Indian cricket team and has conquered all three ICC trophies. After all, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a living legend. 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was born on July 7, 1981 at the house of Pan Singh Dhoni and Devaki Dhoni in Ranchi, a city in the Bihar state, which is the present capital of Jharkhand. Dhoni was a student of DAV Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya. He was not so good in his studies though he was an expert in all the games. Dhoni first played badminton and football. He was the Goalkeeper of the school football team. One day, his school coach Keshab Banerjee sent Dhoni to a local game in the absence of a regular school wicket-keeper. And the coach was impressed with Dhoni’s performance and took him as a regular wicket-keeper. That is Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s entry into cricket.

Since then, Dhoni never had to look back. Dhoni then played as the regular wicket-keeper of the ‘Command Cricket Club’ from 1995 to 1998. Based on his performance, he got selected to the Bihar team in the Inter 16-year-old Vinoo Mankad Trophy in 1997/98 and performed very well. Dhoni gave more importance and time to cricket only after passing class 10. This is how he got a ticket checker job at the Kharagpur railway station and started a tough journey of life. 

Dhoni’s domestic cricket career:

Junior Party of Bihar:  

Dhoni was selected in 1998 to play cricket for the Central Coal Field Limited of Dewel Saha. He was then rewarded by Dewell Saha Rs 50 for each Six. And Dewel Saha saw Dhoni’s talent and honesty and tried hard to take Dhoni ahead on the cricket field and Dhoni got selected to the Bihar Ranji Team within a year. Dhoni was selected as the wicketkeeper batsman for the Bihar Ranji team in 1999-2000. Earlier he was selected for the Bihar Inter-19 team in 1998-99, where Dhoni made a contribution of 176 runs in 5 matches. 

Bihar reached the final of the Konch Bihar Trophy for the year 1999-2000. Dhoni scored 84 runs in the final but Bihar lost. Dhoni performed well in this tournament and scored 488 with 5 half-centuries in 9 tests and also 17 catches and 7 stumpings. Dhoni then got the advantage to play for The East Zone for the CK Naidu Trophy. But there, he showed a poor performance with just 97 runs in four matches. 

Bihar Cricket Team:

Dhoni played the first Ranji match for Bihar in the 1999-2000 session. He played his first match against Assam and lost for 68 runs in his second innings. At the end of the match, Dhoni scored 283 in 5 matches. 

Dhoni was again selected to the Ranji team from Bihar for the 2000-01 session and scored his first century in First-Class cricket against Bengal. He did not do any better in that Ranji season. Dhoni also played the 2001-02 Ranji season but only performed five half-centuries. 

Jharkhand Cricket Team:

Dhoni’s tour this time started for the Jharkhand cricket team. Dhoni made three half-centuries in the 2002-03 Ranji season and also made 2 half-centuries in the Deodhar Trophy. Since then he has been recognized as a deadly aggressive batsman of a new order. Dhoni scored 128 against Assam in the first match of the 2003-04 one day tournament of Ranji Trophy. Dhoni got a chance to play for The East zone in the Deodhar Trophy and scored 244 runs in four matches including a century. The East Zone won the Deodhar Trophy in that season. Dhoni scored a half-century in the second innings despite the team lost in the Duleep Trophy final. And that is when Dhoni was noticed by the BCCI. At that time the BCCI had formed a committee to bring out cricketing talent in the inner region. As a result, Dhoni was caught by national selector and India skipper Sourav Ganguly. 

India-A Team:

Dhoni was then selected for the “India A” team for the tri-country series with Kanya and Zimbabwe based on Dhoni’s performance in 2003-04. Dhoni performed with a century against Zimbabwe in this series. Dhoni also performed beautiful wicket-keeping in this series and took 7 wickets and made 4 stumpings. Then in the tri-country series with Pakistan and Kanya, Dhoni again became selected for “India A” team. And here Dhoni scored 362 runs in six innings with two centuries and a half century. And Dhoni then came to the attention of the Indian team’s selectors and captains.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni had to wait a year to play the Test after December 23, 2004. But soon by dint of his talent and performance, he was positioned in the Indian Test team. And became a middle order wicket-keeper batsman in the Test team. 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Test career:

Dhoni played his first Test match of his life against Sri Lanka on December 2, 2005. In the first Test of his life he scored only 30 runs and that game was cancelled due to rain. Dhoni scored his first half century in Test cricket in the second Test in just 51 balls. Dhoni was again selected for the Test series against Pakistan in January-February, 2006. Dhoni scored his first Test century in his life in the second Test at Physalabad in this series. And Dhoni scored this century in just 93 balls. 

Dhoni was then criticised for batting failure and poor wicketkeeping in the Test series against England on home ground. Then his batting showed a poor performance in the Test series in the West Indies though he performed well in the wicket-keeping and made 13 catches and 4 stumpings in that series. 

Then in 2008, Mahendra Singh Dhoni captained the first Test against Australia. Again in 2009, Dhoni won the Test series 2-0 against Sri Lanka and dhoni scored two centuries. This was followed by India’s first place in the Test cricket rankings. Dhoni played his last Test of his life in 2014 against Australia in Melbourne and there he announced his retirement from the Test. In the last Test of his life, he scored a total of 9 with 8 catches and 1 stumping. He scored 24 runs in the final innings of this Test. 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s T-20 career :

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was an integral part of India’s first T20 match. It was against South Africa on December 1, 2006. He was out for zero in that match. He held 1 catch and scored a run out. 

And in the first T20 World Cup in 2007, senior player Mahendra Singh Dhoni was selected as the captain of the Indian team and this was the first step and he was succeeded in the first step. In the first T20 World Cup, India, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, had defeated Pakistan and won the World Cup. ICC announced Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the “Team of the Tournament” captain and wicket-keeper of the 2014 T20 World Cup. Dhoni played the last T20 against Australia on February 27, 2019. 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the IPL :

In 2008, the Indian Cricket Board launched a mega T20 cricket competition called IPL. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was purchased by Chennai Super Kings for Rs. 15 crore in the first year of IPL. He was the most costly player in the first year auction of the IPL. Under the strong leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Chennai Super Kings have conquered the IPL trophy in 2010, 2011 and 2018. Chennai Super Kings also enter the IPL play-offs every year. Chennai Super Kings also won the Champions League Trophy under Dhoni’s leadership in 2010 and 2014. 

Chennai Super Kings were suspended from IPL for two years after the 2015 IPL match fixing case. Then in 2016 Dhoni was purchased for Rs 19 crore by the rising Pune Supergiant team. 

Again two years later Chennai Super Kings returned in 2018 and Dhoni returned to his team and a strong lead to win the IPL title again.

One-Day Cricket Career:

Dhoni was grouped into the Indian senior team for the 2004-05 series against Bangladesh on the basis of India A team’s stellar performance. On December 23, 2004, Mahendra Singh Dhoni played his first One-Day International match of his life but unfortunately Dhoni had to return back to the pavilion without a run in the match. Dhoni had a disappointing performance throughout that series. Dhoni was then selected in the Indian team for the home series against Pakistan. And in the second match of this series, Dhoni scored his first international century with a great lying batsman and informed the world that this was the beginning of the Dhoni era. He scored 148 runs in just 123 balls in this match at Visakhapatnam. In this way, Dhoni continued to do well in every series and made his place in the Indian One Day team as a wicket-keeping batsman. 

Again, Dhoni was hit in the series against Sri Lanka during The Diwali of October-November, 2005. Dhoni did not have much chance to bat in the first two matches of the series though Dhoni was sent to bat at third One day in the third day at the Chawai Mansingh Ground in Jaipur. Following the target of 299 runs in this match, India won due to Dhoni’s batting. Dhoni played an unconquered big innings of 183 runs in 145 balls in this match. Dhoni scored a total of 346 runs in this series and was honoured with the “Man of the Series”. Later that year, Dhoni had the “B Grade” contract of the BCCI. 

That’s how Dhoni put up a good performance in the matches and on April 20, 2006, He scored first in the ICC One-Day Ranking overcoming Rekey Ponting. Then in 2006 Dhoni got ranked 11th in International One-Day. 

2007 World Cup cricket:

World Cup cricket in 2007 was not at all a good experience for India and a sour experience for Dhoni. Dhoni scored only 29 runs in 3 matches in this World Cup. India were out of this competition after losing to Bangladesh. Indian cricketers were criticised then and dhoni’s house in Jharkhand was also damaged by a few. 

Shaving them all side by side again shuts the criticisers face with beautiful performances. Dhoni scored 174 runs with a century in three of the matches at the Afro Asia Cup in 2007. 

Dhoni then got the “Grade A” contract of the BCCI in June 2007. And seeing signs of his performance and leadership, BCCI appointed Dhoni as the co-captain of the Indian One-Day team. And then in 2008 Dhoni was appointed as captain in One-Day. 

The year 2009 was one of the most successful years of life for Dhoni. Dhoni scored the only international wicket in his life in the Champions Trophy this year. And Dhoni again came first in the One-Day rankings this year. Dhoni scored the highest run in the world in 2009. Dhoni was selected captain and wicket-keeper of the 2009 ICC World 11 One Day Team. 

2011 World Cup Cricket:

2011 is a dream year for all Indian cricket lovers. This year India had conquered the World Cup trophy after 28 years under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. And this match was finally conquered by Dhoni with a six at the last moment. Dhoni scored 91 runs in 79 balls in the World Cup final and was awarded the “Man of the Match” and India received the World Cup Trophy. 

2013 Champions Trophy:

Dhoni again brought the 2013 Champions Trophy to the Indian team with a strong lead. Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first captain to win three important tournaments in ICC through this and is still on record. 

2015 World Cup Cricket:

India entered the finals in this World Cup but lost to Australia and were out of the competition. Dhoni owned another record in this World Cup. That record was the first non-Australian captain to win a 100 One-Day Match. Dhoni scored 65 runs in this World Cup semi final but was not enough for the team to win. 

Quit Captain:

In January 2017, India’s all-time best captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had withheld the post of Captain and entrusted Virat Kohli with the responsibility. Dhoni got selected as wicket keeper in “Tournament Team” due to his performance in Champions Trophy this year. In this Champions Trophy, India lost the final to Pakistan. 

This year in August, Dhoni recorded 100 stumpings in the last One-Day. Dhoni recorded 400 wickets as a wicket-keeper in One-Day in February 2018. In the second match of the series against England in 2018, Dhoni completed 10,000 runs in One-Day as the fourth Indian. Again in the three One-Day series against Australia in late 2018, Dhoni scored half-centuries in all three matches and scored a total of 193 runs and was honoured with the “Man of the Series” in the series. 

2019 World Cup Cricket:

Dhoni was again included in the 2019 World Cup cricket team. In this World Cup, India have crashed out against New Zealand in the finals. Dhoni scored 50 in this game but was unfortunately run out. 

This was Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s last ONE DAY match and the last international match of his life.