Cricket is a pretty hard sport to play, considering you have to deal with a 150-gram ball
flying around. Besides this, it requires a lot of skills in terms of bowling, batting, fielding, and
one crucial position, wicket keeping. In this position, the player has to perform a vast array
of actions, including catching balls coming at speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour, which
is insane and requires some astounding reflexes. But one man made this all look easy,
Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Born in Ranchi, Dhoni initially wasn't too interested in cricket, he preferred sports such as
badminton and football. While playing football, he used to play the role of a goalkeeper, for
this reason, he was sent to play for a local cricket club, by his coach, who saw potential in his
wicket-keeping ability. Although he had no prior experience with playing cricket, Dhoni
proved to be a reliable wicketkeeper and was made the permanent wicketkeeper for his
club. His performances kept improving to the point where he was called up to represent his
state's under-16 team, where he, once again, impressed.
After this point, Dhoni focused his interests all on cricket and planned on pursuing it as a
career. Before his 12th grade, Dhoni had never played any form of professional cricket, but
this changed when he was selected to play for a division team, named Central Coal Fields
Limited, and under his new mentor, Deval Sahay, Dhoni developed the strong foundation he
needed, to improve. Deval Sahay motivated Dhoni to improve his game by giving him
different small forms of motivation, such as giving him 50 rupees for each six he hit, along
with this he instilled discipline in Dhoni and therefore played a crucial part in shaping
Dhoni's career.
Playing up the order for Central Coal Fields Limited was a revelation, as he went on to score
multiple centuries and helped his team move up to division A. This, along with his mentor's
influence, earned Dhoni a place in Bihar's under 19 cricket team. There he contributed
greatly to his team and helped them reach the finals of the tournament, where he met his
future India team-mate, Yuvraj Singh. Although he played relatively well, he was
outperformed by Yuvraj Singh and his Punjab team who eventually went on to win the
tournament.
In the same year, he played in the Ranji trophy for Bihar. The Ranji trophy is one of the
biggest national tournaments and so it was a great achievement for him. This achievement
was complimented with a half-century on his debut and to add to that he was just 18 years
old. Although he had an impressive start, his form did not last. He ended the season poorly
and the following season wasn't too impressive either, as he didn't manage to get even a
single half-century, and in the season following that he just managed 1 fifty in 4 games.
Following this poor run of form Dhoni made the switch from playing for Bihar to Jharkhand
in 2002, following the split of these two states. This proved to be a valuable change, as it
helped selectors understand Dhoni's true talent. He flaunted this talent in the form of 3
half-centuries in the Ranji trophy and a few other half-centuries in other smaller
tournaments. This was the start of his recognition as a lower order powerhouse where he
would help his team finish games, with his explosive batting style and ability to cleanly hit
the ball. Just like his previous season, Dhoni's 2003-2004 season was successful and in fact,
was an improvement, as he went on to score 2 centuries and even won the Deodhar trophy
with his East Zone team, and this proved to be a crucial year in his career.
In the same year, the Talent Resource Development Wing (TRDW), which was a branch of
the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) that was focused on discovering rural talent,
had one of its officers, Prakash Poddar, at a match in Jamshedpur, which was the location of
one of Dhoni's games, that was where he was first noticed by BCCI. His hard-hitting style
and his ability to wicket-keep were traits, too lucrative for the BCCI to ignore. This led to him
being called up for the tour of Kenya and Zimbabwe to play for the India A team, during
which he produced his best ever wicket-keeping performance, for the time, during a match
against Zimbabwe, in which he took 7 catches and successfully completed 4 stumpings. And
this form only improved in the following series, against Pakistan, he produced scores of 120
and 119, as well as a half-century. His performance in that series was greatly rewarded as it
helped gain the attention of the Indian captain at the time, Saurav Ganguly, who
recommended Dhoni's name to play for the Indian one-day format team.
This was Dhoni's rise from a young boy, who loved to play football, to finally getting in the
Indian cricket team. Although he got a spot in the Indian team, Dhoni worked tirelessly to
improve himself through the inspiration he received from players such as Adam Gilchrist
and Sachin Tendulkar, who were his idols at the time. He used the inspiration that he got
from their performances to motivate himself as well as make improvements to his game
based on the technique of these players and now, Dhoni plays the same role to all young
cricketers, by motivating them to do better by mean of his performances.
Dhoni's aggressive style of play and his finishing ability were what made him a role model
for cricket players across India and beyond, and his initial struggle on his path to the Indian
team also played a big factor in motivating youths who are not as privileged as others to
step up and try their best and prove themselves on the main stage, and the effects of this
are evident, with youngsters such as Rishabh Pant and Ishan Kishan, who have both
emerged through the ranks and become explosive and integral players for their respective
IPL franchises. But Dhoni didn't just inspire players, he guided them too, making his tenure
as captain of the Indian cricket team, one of the most successful, in Indian history. This was
due to the fact that he not only won trophies, but he helped mentor and guide players, such
as Rohith Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal, and even the current Indian team captain, Virat Kohli
and is therefore credited for their success in modern-day cricket.
Dhoni has entertained millions across the world, with his explosive style of play and has left
behind an illustrious career that inspires people to do better and shows people that hard
work and dedication, can get you anywhere, even though the struggles of life. The iconic
moments he gave us, with the six he hit to win India the 2011 World Cup, or his lightning-
fast stumpings, Dhoni never failed to entertain. This is the reason he is considered an idol
across the globe and is regarded as one of the best captains to grace the sport. His
retirement from all formats of cricket for the Indian team, on July 9, 2019, was a big blow to
Indian cricket, but his importance will never be forgotten, he is a legend of the sport and will
continue to live on in the hearts of cricket lovers for years to come.
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