26 Facts about MS Dhoni – The most successful Indian captain

If one goes by the numbers, then MS Dhoni is undoubtedly the most successful captain the Indian cricket team has ever seen. He has been an inspiration for an entire generation not just with his captaincy skills, but also with his hard-hitting batting abilities and super quick moves behind the stumps. While there is a strong possibility that one might run out of adjectives while describing the herculean efforts of this man, here are some of the unknown facts about MS Dhoni that you must know:

1. Roots and beginnings:

MS Dhoni was born on 7 July 1981 at Ranchi, Bihar (now Jharkhand). His paternal village Lvali is in the Lamgarha block of the Almora District of Uttarakhand. His father Pan Singh worked in junior management positions in MECON. Dhoni has a sister Jayanti Gupta and a brother Narendra Singh Dhoni. Dhoni studied at DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, Shyamali, Ranchi, Jharkhand where he initially excelled in badminton and football and was selected at district and club level in these sports.

2. Switch to cricket:

During his stint as the goalkeeper of his football team at school, Dhoni was sent to play cricket by his coach. Though he had not played cricket, Dhoni impressed with his wicket-keeping skills and became the regular wicketkeeper at the Commando cricket club (1995–1998). He started taking his cricket seriously after completing his matriculation.

3. Spotting the young talent:

MS Dhoni was spotted by PC Poddar, the former captain of Bengal, via the BCCI’s initiative of finding talent in the small towns. Dhoni was playing for Jharkhand in the Talent Resource Development Wing (TRDW) match in Jamshedpur when Poddar was impressed with his playing abilities.

Also read – 5 MS Dhoni traits that inspire us the most

4. Making it to the U19s:

Dhoni was picked in the Bihar U19 team in the 1998/99 season and scored 176 runs in 5 matches. His team failed to qualify for the quarter-finals and he was subsequently not picked for East Zone U19 team and the Rest of India team.

5. Performance overshadowed by Yuvraj Singh:

Bihar U19s clashed with Punjab U19s in the Cooch Behar Trophy in 1999-2000. Dhoni’s gutsy 84 helped Bihar U19 post 357 on the board. However, his performance was overshadowed by Yuvraj Singh’s marathon knock of 358 that took Punjab U19 to 839 runs.

6. An impressive debut:

However, Dhoni made his debut in the 1999-2000 season for Bihar in the Ranji Trophy and hit a half-century on debut (68 Vs Assam). He finished with an aggregate of 283 runs in 5 matches.

7. Staying grounded:

Dhoni continued to work as a Ticket Collector in the Indian railways from 2001-03, even when playing for Bihar in the Ranji Trophy to support his family.

8. Yet being mischievous:

Working as a ticket collector, while staying at the railway quarters, Dhoni and a few of his friends covered themselves in white bed sheets and walked around in the quarters late in the night. The night guards were fooled into believing that there were ghosts moving around in the complex.

9. Rising up the ranks:

In the domestic ODI tournament in 2003-04, Dhoni struck a brilliant century (128 Vs Assam). Riding on his form, he was picked ahead of the international wicket keeper Deep Dasgupta in the Duleep Trophy finals in the same year. However, when it came to the India A team, Dhoni was a reserve wicket keeper and Dinesh Karthik was the first choice keeper then.

10. A terrible start to International career:

MS Dhoni’s ODI debut came against Bangladesh in 2004. He was run out for a duck on the very first ball.

11. Fastest century by an Indian wicket keeper:

When Dhoni hit 148 against Pakistan in 2005 at Faisalabad, his ton was the fastest century by an Indian wicket keeper in Tests– 93 balls.

Also read – 10 Instances when MS Dhoni absolutely owned the media with his wits

12. Boom Boom Dhoni!

MS Dhoni made a mark for himself when he bludgeoned the Pakistan lineup at Vizag, scoring 148 in early days of his ODI career. He bettered his performance in 2006, playing against Sri Lanka at Jaipur, as he scored 183* of just 145 balls. This remained to be the highest individual score in ODIs in 2nd innings, before Shane Watson broke the record by scoring 185*. This is also the highest ODI score by a wicket keeper.

13. Beating the best:

Under MSD’s leadership in 2013, India became the first team in over 20 years to whitewash Australia in a Test series. Earlier in 2009, India emerged as the top ranked Test team as well. A few years later, in 2016, India whitewashed Australia 3-0 in the T20 series in the Australian backyard.

14. Unbeaten run in Tests:

Dhoni lost his first Test after 11 Tests since taking over as the captain. India won 8 and drew 3 before losing to South Africa in 2010. Dhoni has the longest unbeaten run as an Indian captain in Test cricket history.

15. One for the lucky 7:

The number 7 has been a very lucky number for the Indian limited overs skipper. 7, that is also his jersey number, has a record for him. Dhoni was the first batsman to score an ODI century while batting at number 7. He did so against Pakistan in the year 2012. At the same batting position, earlier in 2007, Dhoni had scored 139 for the Asia XI in the Afro-Asia Cup.

16. Fast and the furious:

Dhoni’s love for bikes and speed racing is known to all. What many don’t know is that Dhoni has a team named “Mahi Racing Team India” in Supersport World Championship. Dhoni is the co-owner of the team along with Telugu movie actor Nagarjuna.

17. Undying love for Soccer and Hockey:

Dhoni also co-owns the Chennaiyin FC in the Indian Super League along with Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan. Dhoni is also the co-owner of the team Ranchi Rays in the Hockey India League.

18. The long hair had a reason!

MS Dhoni is close friends with Bollywood actor John Abraham. Apparently, Dhoni had grown his hair long during his early days trying to copy his favourite actor, John Abraham.

19. And so does the Helicopter shot:

Dhoni’s trademark Helicopter Shot was discovered and mastered by the man himself. MS Dhoni practised this shot as a young player. His teammate and former Jharkhand cricketer Santosh Lal helped him master this shot.

20. Falling short by 10:

Dhoni represented India in Test cricket in 90 matches. He could have easily played 10 more matches and become the 11th Indian player to play 100 or more Tests. But Dhoni preferred to retire, believing it was high time. That is MSD for you – The man at his practical best, not caring about the numbers and milestones. Dhoni amassed 4876 runs in his Test career with a top score of 224, to go with 294 dismissals (256 catches, 38 stumpings).

Also read – Top 5 ODI knocks by MS Dhoni as captain

21. The most expensive man:

MS Dhoni emerged as the most expensive player in the inaugural IPL auctions in 2008 and bagged a USD 1.5 Million contract with Chennai Superkings. MSD went on to lead the team to two IPL championships.

22. Man for the cause:

Dhoni is the leading tax payer from Bihar and Jharkhand region and one of the highest in the country. In the year 2013-14, he paid 20 crore rupees as income tax.

23. The pet lover:

Dhoni is a lover of dogs. He has two of them – while Zarah is a Labrador, Sam is an Alsatian. Dhoni once commented that he loves his dogs because they never judge him even after he loses a match on the field!

24. Personal life:

Dhoni married Sakshi Singh Rawat, his schoolmate in DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir, Shyamali. The couple were blessed with a baby girl on February 6, 2015. They named her Ziva, which in Persian means beauty.

25. Awards Galore:

MS Dhoni received the ICC ODI Player of the Year award for two consecutive years, 2008 and 2009. He has an Honorary doctorate degree by De Montfort University that he received in August 2011.

26. And the greatest captain:

Going by the stats, MS Dhoni is arguably the best skipper till date. He is the only skipper to have won the 50 over World Cup, 20 over World Cup and the Champions Trophy. MS Dhoni successfully led India to a historic win in the inaugural edition of the ICC World T20. Under his leadership, India won the ICC World Cup in 2011, beating the then defending champions Australia. India won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 held in England that helped MSD complete the perfect trio.