The small town BOY

In the year 2007, when the captaincy was took over from ‘The Wall’ that is Rahul Dravid who knew that this small town BOY would soon become a knight in shining armour. MS Dhoni, the former Indian Cricket Captain has always tried his level best to lead his team to memorable win across formats. MS Dhoni who was born on 7.July.1981 in Ranchi (Jharkhand) captained a country that treats Cricket like a ‘Religion’. Dhoni a right handed middle-order batsman and one of the finest wicket keeper and definitely a great finisher. Dhoni in true sense has always stood up for his team. Dhoni made his ODI debut in December 2004, against Bangladesh and played his first test a year later against Sri Lanka. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, from Kishore Kumar we have gone to Sean Paul. His captaincy was an era where everyone witnessed how effectively and efficiently Dhoni adapted the old and the young. Dhoni has a charismatic personality and an aura both on the field and outside the stadium.

‘Mahi’ is what his millions of fans call him across the globe. Dhoni is definitely one of the most flamboyant cricketers we have today. Dhoni isn’t just a cricketer but truly an inspiration and a role model for a lot many. Dhoni started earning as a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) at Kharagpur Railway Station from 2001 to 2003. And when Dhoni finally made his debut he really didn’t have a great start to his ODI career as he got run out for a Duck on debut. But, Dhoni never gave up mid-way as once he rightly said, “Till the full stop doesn’t come the sentence isn’t complete”. And with determination, courage and desire to learn Dhoni who appeared as a lower-order attacking batsman gradually changed his style of playing with the occurrence of pressure situation and of course, his growing responsibility as a captain. Captain Cool. That’s the name we’ve given him because of the ease with which he seems to cope with pressure.

Dhoni is undoubtedly a powerful hitter of the ball and one of the fastest in running between the wickets. His wicket keeping skill and quickness when comes to stumping are my personal favourites and these skill of his is widely appreciated and praised. In one of his interview he said that,’it is always been about serving the country’.Dhoni has been conferred with the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Dhoni is a man who never care about losing but focused more on how to do well. He never got crushed by expectations but was clear of the fact as said in one of his interview, ‘ You don’t play for the crowd, and you play for the country’. He has been a captain who remained calm under pressure, a competitive tool and someone who understood each individual in his team and to put it in Dhoni’s words,’ You won’t see a Sreesanth bat like Don Bradman just because he wants to bat like one’.Dhoni who is a youth icon and one of the richest sportsperson across the globe never deviated from his goals and groundeven after experiencing difficulties. He always remained Rock solid and an all action hero who walked in even in the most pressurized cricket environment who always backed up the image with the substance of performance.

Dhoni became the first captain to win all THREE ICC LIMITED OVERS TROPHIES which includes Champions trophy, World Twenty20 and World Cup. Dhoni who captained the Indian Team in limited over formats from 2007 to 2016 and in test cricket from 2008 to 2014 gave us an era of brilliant, tactful and marvellous captaincy and playing. Dhoni a match winner across all formats and a captain who managed to be himself. A man who not only made it to the top of the game but also aman who knew exactly the game and the players and also the jovial side of his interactions with media and spoke good sense.

In the words of George Bernard Shaw, “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.