Early Life and Education
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, popularly known as MS Dhoni, was born on July 7, 1981 in Ranchi, Bihar, India. His father, Paan Singh worked in junior management positions in MECON while his mother Devaki Devi was a housewife. He attended DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir where he showed interest in badminton and football before falling in love with cricket.
Career and Achievements
Domestic Career
Dhoni started his career as a goalkeeper for his school’s football team. Later, he switched to cricket and became the regular wicketkeeper at the Commando cricket club (1995–1998). In the 1997/98 season, he was selected for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy Under-16 Championship representing Bihar. He made progress swiftly through youth ranks and got into the Ranji Trophy squad, India’s premier domestic tournament, for the 1999-2000 seasons.
Entry Into International Cricket
In December 2004 MS Dhoni was picked for Bangladesh tour as a replacement of injured player. On December 23rd, 2004 he made his ODI (One Day International) debut against Bangladesh but couldn’t make any significant contribution. However fully showcase himself in April 2005 against Pakistan by scoring rapid-fire fifitnies – showing the world his power-hitting ability.
Captaincy & Indian Cricket’s Golden Era
Dhoni took over test captaincy from Anil Kumble in 2008 after being responsible of the reigns of ICC( International Cricket Council) World T20 in 2007, which India won. Under MS Dhoni’s captaincy team climbed to No.1 position in test rankings for the first time. He also lead Indian cricket team winning 2011 ICC world cup & clinching Champions Trophy in 2013.
Retirement and Post-Retirement Life
Holding an array of records including most wins by an Indian skipper on foreign soil, Dhoni announced his retirement from Test cricket on December 30th, 2014 keeping intact his “captain cool” image without a grand swansong. However continued playing limited over cricket (ODIs & T20s) but relinquished captaincy duties in January 2017 passing it onto Virat Kohli. His final engagement with international cricket was during semi-final game against New Zealand in July 2019 World Cup.
Amidst speculations about his future plans he officially retired on August 15,2020 via social-media post. Known for unorthodox methods, he started grooming dogs post-retirement dedicating himself to those lovable animals.
