Mahendra Singh Dhoni,current captain of the Indian national cricket team,was born in Ranchiin Jharkhand in a Rajput family to Pan Singh and Devaki Devi. His paternal village Lvali is in the Lamgarha block of the Almora District of Uttarakhand on July 7, 1981 . Dhoni has a sister Jayanti and a brother Narendra.He likes bikes.He is one of the highest income tax payers in last year. Dhoni is a fan of Adam Gilchrist, and his childhood idols were cricket team mate Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan and singer Lata Mangeshkar.
Dhoni was included in the Bihar U-19 squad for the 1998/99 season and scored 176 runs in 5 matches.Dhoni made his Ranji Trophy debut for Bihar in the 1999–2000 season as an eighteen year old. He made a half century in his debut match scoring 68* in the second innings against Assam cricket team.Dhoni finished the season with 283 runs in 5 matches. Dhoni scored his maiden first-class century against Bengal in the 2000/01 season in a losing cause.He was recognized for his efforts in the 2003/04 season, especially in the ODI format and was picked for the India A squad for a tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya. Against the Zimbabwe XI in Harare Sports Club, Dhoni had his best wicket-keeping effort with 7 catches and 4 stumpings in the match.
Dhoni was named the captain of India Twenty 20 squad for the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 held in South Africa in September 2007.India were crowned champions as Dhoni led the team to victory against Pakistan in a thrilling contest.He made his debut as full-time Test captain of India during the fourth and final test against Australia at Nagpur in November 2008 replacing Anil Kumble who was injured in the third test and who then announced his retirement.
M.S.Dhoni was contracted by the Chennai Super Kings for 1.5 Million USD. This made him the most expensive player in the IPL for the first season Auctions which was closely followed by Andrew Symonds. Dhoni is the present captain of the Chennai Super Kings team.With Dhoni making a mark in the India-A squad, he was picked in the ODI squad for the Bangladesh tour in 2004/05. Dhoni did not have a great start to his ODI career, getting run out for a duck on debut.Following his good one-day form against Sri Lanka, Dhoni replaced Dinesh Karthik in December 2005 as the Indian Test wicket-keeper.Dhoni scored 30 runs in his debut match that was marred by rain.
Under Dhoni's captaincy, India won the 2011 Cricket World Cup against Sri Lanka. In the final, chasing 275 under extreme pressure, Dhoni promoted himself up the batting order, coming before Yuvraj Singh. When he came to bat, the situation was very demanding, with India needing more than six runs per over and three top order batsmen already dismissed. He started building a good partnership with his former India 'A' teammate Gautam Gambhir and ran quick singles and twos. Due to good strokeplay and active running between wickets, they kept up with the required run rate. Dhoni was on 60 off 60 balls, but later accelerated with a greater flow of boundaries, ending with 91 not out off 79 balls. Befitting the occasion, he finished the match with a huge six over long-on off bowler Nuwan Kulasekara.
He turns 30 today.
