Mahendra Dhoni Profile by CricketArchive

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Player:

MS Dhoni

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DateLine: 5th June 2008

 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni hails from the backwaters of Jharkhand, a cricketing state that has done nothing else but been at the bottom of the Indian domestic cricket tables. Yet this right handed batsman has charmed every one with his naturally aggressive ideology.

 

Since the beginning he has built a hard-hitting reputation with the bat and safe hands behind the wickets with the gloves. He made his First-Class debut in the 1999-2000 season, but not until 2004 that he became a serious contender for national selection with some stirring performances. This was due to his two centuries against Pakistan A, in the triangular tournament in Kenya.

 

Already having earned a reputation of destroying bowling attacks at will, he then moved on to bigger things making his ODI debut against Bangladesh but it was against the visiting Pakistanis that he lived upto his reputation. In just his fifth one-dayer, against Pakistan, he cracked a dazzling 148and followed that up with a colossal 183 not out Sri Lanka later that November, on the way breaking Adam Gilchrist's record for the highest score by a wicketkeeper in ODIs. He was instantly hit in the Tests too as he scored 148 in his fifth Test at Faisalabad while touring Pakistan.

 

After the disastrous ODI world cup in 2007, he was made the vice-captaincy of the ODI team for the England tour in2007 and later that year, was appointed captain of the Twenty20 squad for the World Cup in South Africa. An improbable title triumph that September caught him more than a fair share of headlines and he was handed over the ODI captaincy later that month, after Rahul Dravid stepped down as captain. He justified the selectors’ faith as he led his side to India's first ODI tri-series triumph in Australia in March 2008.

 

For his amazing skills as a cricketer and captain, he was given the “Icon” status for the Indian Premier League and was bought by the Chennai Super Kings as the highest paid player in the tournament.

 

He has been since made the captain of the India test team which ended up winning the series at home against Australia 2-0. Dhoni has a 100 percent record in tests with 3 test wins, with one coming against South Africa earlier this year which helped India square the series 1-1.