Full name Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Born July 7, 1981, Ranchi, Bihar
Current age 24 years 100 days
Major teams India, Jharkhand
Also known as Mahi
Batting style Right-hand bat
Fielding position Wicketkeeper
The spectacular arrival of Virender Sehwag was bound to inspire others to bat with the same mindset. But the odds of a clone emerging from the backwaters of Jharkhand, whose state side has consistently scraped the bottom, was highly remote. That was until Mahendra Singh Dhoni arrived. He can be swashbuckling with the bat and secure with the wicketkeeping gloves. His neck-length hair adds to his dash. Though Dhoni made his first-class debut in the 1999-2000 season, it was only in 2004 that he became a serious contender for national selection with some stirring performances when the occasion demanded - a rapid hundred which helped East Zone clinch the Deodhar Trophy and an audacious 60 in the Duleep Trophy final. But it was with his two centuries against Pakistan A, in the triangular tournament in Kenya, that he established himself as a clinical destroyer of bowling attacks. In just his fifth one-dayer, against Pakistan at Vishakapatnam, he cracked a dazzling 148 and for a while even put Sehwag in the shade
Cricket: India names Dhoni to one-day captaincy
Mahendra Singh Dhoni took a huge step toward one of the biggest jobs in world cricket on Tuesday when he was named captain of India for its series of one-day matches against Australia and Pakistan, to be played over the next two months.
Dhoni, 26, who is leading India in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa, can make a strong case for also taking charge of the five-day test team if he performs well in the one-day matches. The job carries the pressure of meeting the expectations of India's huge population for its highest-profile national sport but also the prospect of great wealth.
India's next five-day series, against Pakistan, does not start until Nov. 22. The alternative to Dhoni is believed to be Sachin Tendulkar, India's greatest contemporary cricketing hero, who was only moderately successful when he captained the team in 25 tests from 1996 to 2002.
India's chairman of selectors, Dilip Vengsarkar, said of Dhoni, "He is a good captain, and this is the right time to groom him."
Dhoni's ferocious middle-order hitting has given him a high media profile and made him a highly effective one-day player. At one time, he was rated the best one-day international batsman in the world.
The main risk in appointing him to the five-day role would be that he is also a wicket-keeper, carrying an immense physical and psychological weight as the only man actively engaged in every single delivery in opposition innings that often extend over more than a day's play.
The vacancy was created by Rahul Dravid's resignation last week. World Cup years always bring their crop of captaincy changes. Inzamam ul-Haq and Brian Lara stepped down as captains of Pakistan and West Indies; Habibul Bashar lost the leadership of Bangladesh; and England finally concluded that Michael Vaughan's undoubted leadership qualities were outweighed by his limitations as a player in the shorter form of the game.
Dravid had survived India's miserable World Cup, where it was eliminated by Bangladesh, and led it to a series victory in England. His own form as a batsman had suffered, though. After scoring 87 runs per innings on previous visits to England, his average dropped to 25, and in the final test, he played one of the slowest innings in test cricket history, scoring only 12 runs in more than two and a half hours.
A consummate team player who never actively sought the captaincy, Dravid said he had stopped enjoying the job.
His was the second surprise departure in a week. Steven Fleming's replacement as captain of New Zealand by Daniel Vettori was a still greater shock. Fleming had come to look like the single fixed point in an ever-changing world. Not many captains get to lead their country in two World Cups. Fleming had done it in three, taking his team into the final four for the second time in West Indies this year.
The consensus pick as the world's shrewdest captain, he turned a squad of solid rather than brilliant performers into a tough, highly competitive team. Only quick bowler Shane Bond, on the rare occasions when he is fully fit, would be a serious contender for a World XI.
Fleming had led New Zealand in 80 five-day tests, second only to the record of 93 by Allan Border of Australia, and a record 218 one-day internationals.
Fleming chose to stand down as one-day captain but would happily have continued in the longer format. New Zealand's selectors have decided, though, to appoint Vettori.
It is an intriguing appointment. Selectors are often wary of bowlers as captains. That is because the most important single element in captaincy is deciding who should bowl at any given time, making it hard to detach personal from team considerations.
It is not hard to see, though, why New Zealand has long seen captaincy material in Vettori. He is an astute, intelligent cricketer who contests the title of the best slow left-arm bowler with Monty Panesar of England and has also, by playing sensibly within his limitations, developed his batting to the point where he is little short of being classified as an all-rounder.
He combines the air of the enthusiastic student with that of the hard-bitten veteran for the simple reason that he genuinely does have something of both. He is still only 28 but has been playing test cricket for a decade, taking 229 wickets in 73 five-day tests.
Twenty20 World Cup winning team........
Dhoni on top of the world
London, April 20
Swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni today became the world’s top batsman in one-day rankings with a phenomenal average of 52.76 and an awesome strike-rate of 103.Dhoni, who was placed second behind Ricky Ponting before the two-match one-day series against Pakistan, displaced the Australian captain from the top spot after his fine knock of 59 in the second match in Abu Dhabi.The 24-year-old Jharkhand player, who made his ODI debut in December, 2004, has made a remarkably rapid rise with his statistics providing compelling support for his position on top of the ODI charts released by the ICC today.
Since making his debut, Dhoni has played in 42 matches and has scored two hundreds and eight fifties.
Dhoni is one of three India batsmen in the top 10 places with captain Rahul Dravid ninth (up two places) and Yuvraj Singh (10th) also featuring
~ IPL - Indian Premier League~
Monday January 23, 2006
Dhoni celebrates his century Indian batsman Mahendra Dhoni waves his bat
and helmet to spectators after completing a ton against Pakistan on
the third day of the second Test in Faisalabad on Monday
Dhoni (affectionately known as Mahi), made his debut for Jharkhand in the 1999-2000 season as an eighteen year old. He started off his career with modest performances at the local level. He was noticed by the national team selectors in 2004 after his performances in first class tournaments such as the Deodhar Trophy and the Duleep Trophy. Dhoni was selected to represent India 'A' on a tour of Kenya and his performances were good enough to win him selection in the Indian national team, making his one-day international debut against Bangladesh in Chittagong in December of that year.
