Mahendra Singh Dhoni Biography

Name : Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Nickname : Mahi
Nationality : Indian
Date of Birth : 7 July 1981
Place of Birth: Ranchi, Bihar

Batting style : Right hand batsman
Bowling style : Right arm medium
Field position: Wicketkeeper
Clubs played : Jharkhand


Dhoni was born and brought up in the city of Ranchi. He has two siblings. A sister who is married and a brother who lives in Almora. Almora is a high-lying town at the foot of the Himalaya which is his father's home town. His father's name is Pan Singh and mother's name is Devki Devi.

Dhoni, made his debut for Jharkhand in the 1999-2000 season as an eighteen year old. 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.

Luck wasnt on his side in the first four matches he played. Where as on the fifth match which was played against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam, Dhoni came to the crease one down and managed to score 148 runs from just 123 balls. He hit 15 boundaries and four sixes. He got his first man of the match award that day.

On the 31st of October, Dhoni broke the record of highest runs scored by a wicket keeper by securing 183 runs against Srilanka which was played at Jaipur, beating Adam Gilchrist's former record of 172 runs.

On the 2nd of December 2005, Dhoni made his Test cricket debut against Srilanka which was played in Chennai, India.

He is currently ranked number one in the official ICC cricket rankings for batsmen in Limited over internationals.

Dhoni's current batting average in ODIs is just over 50 (as of April 2006), the highest by any Indian player with more than 20 innings. With a career ODI batting strike rate of more than 100 he remains the only batsman with the unique double of a 50+ average scored at more than a run a ball. Currently, Dhoni has one of the highest strike rates in the world (103.00 runs per hundred balls). With 44 sixes in 38 ODI innings, Dhoni has hit more sixes than he's played internationals.

He made his maiden Test century against Pakistan in the 2nd Test at Faisalabad in January 2006, reaching the landmark in just 93 balls. Dhoni's career batting average at the end of the ODI series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi stands at 52.76, which is the fourth highest for any batsman having scored at least 1,000 runs in one-day internationals, behind Australians, Mike Hussey Michael Bevan, and Englishman Kevin Pietersen.