#MSDhoni "The man with the Midas touch" burst into the scene from the cricketing backwaters of #Jharkhand with a lion-like mane, muscular body and the ability to hit the ball harder than anyone. He was a mine house of talent waiting to explode in the international scene and went on to change the face of Indian cricket forever.
EARLY LIFE:
He was born on 7 July 1981 in Jharkhand. He studied in #DAVJawaharMandirShyamali, Ranchi. During his childhood, he excelled at #badminton and #football and hadn't given cricket a try until his P.E teacher asked him to don the gloves for the gloves for the school cricketing team after being impressed by his goalkeeping skills.
#Dhoni had only played in school and club cricket till 12th standard, but spotting his immense talent Deval Sahay the Ranchi district Cricket President then used his connections to push Dhoni in the Bihar Ranji team and immediately repaid the faith put on him by scoring tons of runs in the Ranji circuit and was soon in reckoning for bigger things.
Despite telling performances Dhoni was unable to find a place in the national side and had joined the Railways as a Train Ticket Examiner(TTE) at Kharagpur railway station to make ends meet and keep his passion alive.
Like a bolt from the blue BCCI started the countrywide Training and Research Development Wing to identify talents from the backward states and Dhoni was given a second life after being selected for India A on a tour to Kenya and Zimbabwe. Dhoni aggregated 362 runs in 6 innings in the tournament and consequently received a call-up in the ODI side for the tour of Bangladesh in November 2004.
GOING INTERNATIONAL:
#DhoniODIcareer got off to the worst possible start with him being run out without opening his account and followed it up with a string of low scores to complete a disappointing maiden national tour. But the selectors kept faith on him and selected him for the Pakistan ODI series.
In the second #ODI of the tour, #Dhoni clobbered a strong Pakistani bowling outfit to all parts of the ground scoring 148 of just 123 balls and giving a glimpse of his big hitting ability. Just a few months later he blasted his way to an unbeaten 183 against Sri Lanka at Jaipur and Dhoni the player had arrived and was here to stay. Due to his consistent run, Dhoni was awarded the B grade contract by BCCI.
India went into the #2007WorldCup with the strongest team on paper but crashed out in the first stage with losses against Bangladesh and SriLanka and Dhoni scoring a duck in both the matches. On account of poor performance in the World Cup Dhoni's house was vandalized and damaged by political activists.
MAKING OF THE LEGEND:
After a disappointing World Cup campaign, the senior players in the team had opted out of the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa. Surprisingly MS Dhoni was given the reins of a young and inexperienced team on the senior players and the gamble turned out to be a masterstroke. Dhoni proved to a be the shrewd operator with a cool head on his broad shoulders. He believed his gut instinct and made some significant moves which altered the course of the game. The young Indian team had a fairytale run which culminated in becoming the first winners of the T20 format.
Soon he replaced Rahul Dravid as the captain of the ODI and after the retirement of Anil Kumble was declared the captain in all formats. The responsibility of #captaincy seemed to bring out the best of the batsman in Dhoni and he had a memorable 2009 scoring the highest number of runs in ODI's and topping the batting charts.
1) 2011 WORLD CUP:
#SachinTendulkar was playing his last World Cup and the whole of India wanted to see their hero lift the elusive cup. Dhoni led a strong Indian team that managed to improve as the tournament progressed and put up a clinical display to be crowned as the world champions. Dhoni's performance was pedestrian throughout the tournament but he more than made it up in the finals with a match-winning knock of 91* to help India cross the finishing line and the winning six of Kulasekara at #Wankhede that sparked off countrywide celebration will forever be etched in the minds of the fans. Dhoni became only the second Indian captain to lift the World Cup after a gap of 28 years.
2) 2013 CHAMPIONS TROPHY:
During the #2013ChampionsTrophy at England and Wales Dhoni, the captain played another gamble by promoting an underperforming #RohitSharma to the top of the order and it was a stroke of genius which was to benefit the team in the years to come. India went on to win the Champions Trophy undefeated after India defeated England in a rain-reduced 20 over final. Dhoni was once again at the thick of things making Ishant bowl the decisive 18th over which turned the match on its head and India managed to snatch a win from the jaws of defeat. This win helped Dhoni become the most decorated cricket captain in the history with all possible ICC trophies adorning his cabinet.
3) 2015 WORLD CUP:
Dhoni led the Indian team to his second World Cup as the captain after some poor performances Down Under. But the young Indian team stood up to the challenge and breezed past the group stages. The Indian pacers Shami and Umesh were particularly impressive and shared the bulk of wickets between them. India defeated Bangladesh in the quarterfinals and as a result, Dhoni became the first non-Australian captain to win 100 ODI matches. India met Australia in the semifinals and was completely outplayed by the eventual champions. Dhoni had a good tournament with the bat scoring 3 fifties.
TEST CAREER:
Owing to his consistent performances in the ODI circuit Dhoni was awarded a place in the Test side in December 2005 against Sri Lanka and displayed his class by scoring his first 50 in his second Test. Dhoni followed it up with his maiden century against Pakistan a couple of months later to rescue India from a tight position. Dhoni played some crucial knocks down the order and helped secured his place in the team. He was elevated to the position of the captaincy after the #retirementofKumble and started off with an unbeaten run at home which ultimately resulted in the team reaching the pinnacle of Test rankings under Dhoni. He received the Test Championship mace at Mumbai.
But it was only after the 2011 World Cup that Dhoni the captain had to undergo his toughest test as a captain with India touring England and Australia within the year. India was blanked 4-0 by England and also lost the #1 rankings to them. The scoreline followed a similar pattern in the ODI's and T20I's with India failing to win a single match in the series. Then India toured Australia and was again whitewashed 4-0. Dhoni's captaincy came under severe criticism and there were demands of his sacking from severe quarters.
However, the selectors decided to persist with Dhoni returned the favour to Australia by blanking them in the Border Gavaskar trophy.
India became the first team in 40 years to blank Australia. Dhoni notched up his first double century in the series scoring a marathon 224 during the Chennai Test.
In away Border, Gavaskar trophy in 2014 after the drawn Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Dhoni decided to surprisingly call off his Test career.
INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE:
The success of T20 World Cup led to Dhoni being contracted by Chennai Super Kings for$1.5 million making him the most expensive player in the auctions. He was wildly successful as the Captain of CSK and helped them to qualify for the playoffs every single time. He has also led them to 3 titles in 2010,2011 and 2018 making it the most successful franchise with Mumbai Indians.
CAPTAINCY:
Dhoni chartered his own path and unleashed a brand of leadership that was unique and will inspire generations to come. He had a calm head an astute mind and a deep understanding of the game that allowed him to follow his gut instinct and take the road less travelled. He had an uncanny ability to put the right men at the right time for the job and it helped India in closing many games from impossible situations. He believes in throwing the youngsters into the deep end and see if they are good enough to hold their own and swim against the tide. The greatest asset of Dhoni is to stay calm, no matter what the situation is. You would rarely find him succumb to pressure and that allows him to take rational decisions. Sometimes his choices surprise you. Sometimes his field placements baffle you. If his unusual moves come out right once in a while you can attribute it to luck, but to fly in the face of convention for his entire duration shows that Dhoni is truly an unconventional genius. Dhoni the captain has truly been a blessing for the Indian team making it a habit of winning when the stakes are the highest.
TECHNIQUE:
Dhoni never had a copybook technique that was pleasing to the eyes but was effective nevertheless. Dhoni had started his journey with a tennis ball and had developed a strong bottom hand grip to help him Tonk the ball out of the stands and that stayed with him after he started playing leather ball cricket and moved further up in his career. His footwork was also not decisive which hurt him in the longer format of the game.
He reads the spinners really well and can easily milk runs off them during the middle overs and clobber them out of the park when the situation demands. He is also a good puller and hooker of the cricket ball with his open stance allowing him to get in a good position while playing the short balls.
In order to counter the swinging conditions in England, he adopted the technique of walking to the pitch of the ball and murdering the swing which turned out to be fruitful.
Not to forget his audacious helicopter shot which can turn a well-directed yorker into a six-hitting option leaving the bowlers around the world bewildered.
Like his batting, he has a really #unorthodoxkeepingtechnique. He wasn't considered good with the gloves when he made his debut but has grown by leaps and bounds to have his name mentioned in the list of greatest keepers the world has ever produced.
While keeping instead of his hands moving back to catch the ball his hands move forward and allow him the luxury of some few milliseconds during which he can affect a lightning-quick stumping. He has also developed this uncanny ability to hit the stumps with unerring accuracy during any stage of the game from any position.
FINISHER PAR EXCELLENCE:
Dhoni has donned many hats in his glittering career and performed every role with the utmost dedication and finesse. After being promoted to the role of captaincy Dhoni dragged himself down the order in order to finish matches for the team and was the very best in the business.
He always had a plan in mind and executed it to perfection. Initially, he would take his time to get set rotating the strike seamlessly to keep the scoreboard moving without taking any unnecessary risks. He would play out the overs of the best bowlers and invariably takes the game to the end, and when the time is perfect he springs up into action combining his raw power and shrewd mind to snatch the game away from the opposition.
THE MAN BEHIND THE LEGEND:
Away from all the spotlight and pressure Dhoni is still the simple guy who made it big on the back of #sheerhardwork and application. The best thing about Dhoni is he treats both success and failure equally. He doesn't get carried away by the mind-numbing success nor gives up due to disheartening failures. Dhoni always strives to be better than he already was and this quest for improvement help him scale the peaks of success. He doesn't involve himself too emotionally with the game and that allows him to analyse the game from a neutral perspective and take decisions which are game-changing.
The journey of a small town boy to become the most loved superstar in the country will be celebrated and inspire scores of youngsters to achieve their dreams.
コメント