He excelled in both the sports and even he got selected at the district and club level. He was a goalkeeper on the football team. Surprisingly it was his football coach to send him to play cricket in a local cricket club.
2. The captain cool has a mischievous side
Generally, Dhoni is under the umbrella of calm and composed behavior. We all call him the ‘captain cool’ because of his unbelievably calm mind under tremendous pressure and to make wise decisions. But an incident from his previous work location – Kharagpur junction tells he can be quite mischievous at time. His colleagues say that once Dhoni and a couple of his friends covered themselves with white bedsheets and walked around the complex late in the night. They fooled the night guards and made them believe that there were ghosts in the complex. Obviously, this story made big news the next day.
3. Dhoni made money out of his every “six.”
When Dhoni was in school, he used to play only school and club cricket, till 1998. One of the famous incidents, when Dhoni use to play for CCL, Deval Sahay use to gift him rupees 50 for each six that he hit in Sheesh Mahal tournament cricket matches. While playing for CCL, he also got the chance to play in upper the order.
4. He used to work as a TTE in Kharagpur railway station
From MS Dhoni’s biopic, we already know that he use to work at Kharagpur railway station, under the eastern railway in Midnapore – a district in West Bengal, from 2001 to 2003. His colleagues recognize him as an honest, hard-working, and straightforward employee of the Indian railway. During this time, he also played in the Ranji Trophy and made a couple of half-centuries in Deodhar Trophy.
5. Dhoni’s first century that made a world record
Selectors picked Dhoni in the Bangladesh tournament in 2004. In his first match, Dhoni did not make an impressive appearance. He got run out for a duck on debut. But on the second match of the series Dhoni had a breakthrough and made his first century of 148 runs off only 123 balls. Dhoni’s 148 made history, breaking records of the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicket-keeper, a record that he would re-write before the end of the year.
6. He is the most successful Indian cricket team captain
Dhoni is the most successful Indian cricket team captain. He is the only captain under whose captaincy India won three major ICC cups – 2007 ICC world Twenty20, 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. In test matches, Dhoni did extremely well. Under his captaincy, the Indian team whitewashed the Australian cricket team by 5-0. Under his captaincy, only Chennai super kings had the victory in 2010, 2011, and 2018 seasons of the Indian premier league. In the 2010 and 2004 editions of the champions league Twenty20, they won again. Dhoni also holds numerous captaincy records such as the most wins by an Indian captain in ODIs and T20Is, and most back-to-back wins by an Indian captain in ODIs.
7. He was the most expensive player in the first IPL Auction
In the first auction of IPL Dhoni, contracted for Chennai super kings for US$1.5 million. It was a huge amount at that time. It made him the most expensive player in the IPL’s first season’s auction.
8. Mahi is the only player to win the ICC Player of the year award twice
The ICC one day player award is an annual award presented since 2004 by the international cricket council to the best one-day international player. Swarovski, the chief international crystal manufacturer, handcrafted the trophy. And Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the only player to win the ICC one-day player of the year twice.
9. Dhoni is a big-time collector of bikes
MSD’s love for bikes is immense. He is a big-time collector of the beauties in two wheels. His latest acquisition added to the collection is the steel-legal version of the track-only H2R; it comprises a supercharged 998cc motor that produces a mammoth 197bhp with 133Nm of torque. The bike costs a whopping 25 lakhs. Currently, he has 23 motorbikes, and according to him, there will be more bikes added to the list soon.
10. He has the title of Lt Colonel
One of the most prestigious honor that Dhoni received is the title of Lt Colonel. The Indian Territorial Army conferred the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel on 1st November 2011.
He is the second Indian cricketer after Kapil Dev to receive this honor.
11. He is the most sponsored athlete in India
According to reports, Dhoni has the most brad value. He is the highest-paid cricketer in India right now. After Shah Rukh Khan, Dhoni has the most number of brand endorsements. Although in 2016, Dhoni’s brand value dropped to $11 million from $21 million that was in 2015, and his rank dropped from number 5 to number 10, he remains the only Indian athlete among the top 10 athletes globally.
12. Dhoni has a higher net worth than Sachin Tendulkar
According to Forbes, Dhoni’s net worth is $31 million, which surpasses the net worth of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar’s net worth.
13. Dhoni missed his daughter ‘Ziva’s’ birth during the world cup 2015
During the 2015 cricket world cup on 6th February, Dhoni became a father to a beautiful daughter. He could have taken a few days off.
But as a captain of the Indian cricket team, Dhoni decided not to travel back to India, and in an interview, he said that “I am on national duty, other things can wait.”
14. Dhoni gave his jersey to a kid
We have seen Sourav Ganguly take his jersey off in the lord’s stadium, which is an epic moment in the history of cricket. But so did Mahi. After the splendid win in the 2007 Twenty20 world cup, Dhoni took off his jersey and gifted it to a kid in the crowd.
15. Dhoni gave chance to Virat Kohli for his first match
Mahi is so modest that he always gives chance to the new talents. During the 2008 Shrilanka tour, Sehwag got injured, and the Indian cricket team needed an opening batsman so urgently. Dhoni gave a chance to Kohli to play, asking him to be the opening batsman in the next match. And that is how Kohli made his first debut in the Indian cricket team.
