Cricket is one of the most fantastic sports in India. The craze for cricket is such that people worship the sportsman as Gods. Some well-known cricketers include; Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Sir Vivian Richards, etc. Many cricketers lack commitment and consistency, which is why there are few whom people remember and cherish. You can watch cricket live video free, just to enjoy watching your favorite cricketer. Of those few personalities, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one such player that people have ever witnessed in the history of cricket. Many in the country believe MS is a man whose actions speak louder than his words. It can be justified by his existing records in the field and the trophies he has won for the country and himself. Many hurdles came up during his career and lifetime, and he overcame them today; he is the man people consider one of the finest in the history of cricket.
Early Life:
MS Dhoni was born in a Hindu Rajput family in Ranchi on 7th July 1981. He is the youngest son of Devaki Devi and Pan Singh. His father was a pump operator in the MECON colony. MS had become a man of his word in the field with his determination to win the matches. But many of us might find it interesting that MS used to be the goalkeeper of his school football team. After witnessing his goalkeeping skills, his coach, Keshav Ranjan Banerjee, picked him up as a wicketkeeper for the school cricket team. It was then that MS paved his roadway towards cricket.
His early life was full of struggles, as his parents wanted him to study well. His father was rather persistent in him getting a good job and making his family financially stable. To keep up with his father, Dhoni took up the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) job at Kharagpur Railway Station under South Easter Railway. He continued his job as a TTE from 2001 to 2003. Between this period, his dream and love for cricket had not faded. He played a lot of cricket matches conducted by the railways. His score was excellent; still, those matches did not make his way easier to secure a place on the National team.
After quitting, Dhoni captured his place in the Ranji team in 2002. For the first time in his career, he was recognized as a ferocious batter in the Ranji format. In the following year, he scored multiple half-centuries, and the following year came his first century against Assam. During this time, he was noticed by a BCCI official, and his stats report got sent to the National Cricket Academy (NCA). The 2003/04 Ranji season helped him to clinch a place in the India A team. His win against Pakistan A helped India to win in the tri-nations tournament involving India A, Kenya, and Pakistan A. Dhoni had scored 362 runs with an average of 72.40 in 6 innings. His excellent performance grabbed the attention of – Ravi Shastri and Sourav Ganguly amongst others.
Career:
The early 2000s saw an Indian ODI team that focused on getting a wicketkeeper that could bat well during the tough times. With Dravid as the wicketkeeper, the team saw the entry of Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Kartik and MS Dhoni as wicketkeepers/batsmen in the junior ranks. With MS’s exceptional performance in the India A team, he got picked in the squad for the upcoming ODI series against Bangladesh. Although, Dhoni could not start well on his debut and got run out for a duck. Despite his average performance, he was picked up for the ODI series against Pakistan. However, in the second match of the series, Dhoni’s 148 off 123 deliveries broke the record for the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper. In the Sri Lankan bilateral ODI series, Dhoni’s 183 off 145 deliveries helped India win the match and lead the series. He was awarded the Man of the series award and received a B-Grade contract from the BCCI.
During the 2007 world cup, India crashed out of the tournament due to their bitter performance, and MS could not score a single run in the first two matches. He was only able to score a total of 29 runs during the whole tournament. After this, Dhoni returned strong, only to whitewash a complete series against Bangladesh the following year. He was also awarded the Man of the Series with a Man of the Match for the 3rd ODI match. Later, Dhoni was made the vice-captain for India against South Africa in Ireland and the seven-match ODI series against England. Dhoni also received an A-grade contract from the BCCI in June 2007. He represented India as a captain for the World Twenty20 in September 2007. The same year when India defeated Pakistan to become the World Twenty20 champions.
His success stories did not pause there; he claimed the World cup for the Indian side in 2011, beating Sri Lanka in the finals. It was after 28 years that India won the World cup, the last time being won by Kapil Dev in 1983. Upon winning the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, Dhoni broke a record many captains only dream of achieving. He was the first and only captain to claim all the ICC trophies in international cricket. During the 2015 World Cup, MS was the first Indian captain to win all the matches in the group stage. But India lost the world cup to the Aussies in the semi-finals.
Later, MS Dhoni stepped down as the captain in 2017. Dhoni had broken a lot of records and summed up a lot of awards and achievements. Unfortunately, he announced his retirement from all international formats of the game on 15th August 2020. Although the Indian squad might feel the absence of MS, his passion towards the game is still the same. He is currently the captain of the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL format.