Mumbai, July 6: India captain MS Dhoni celebrates his 30th birthday today even as the Indian side gears up for Day 2 of the Dominica Test. Dhoni, who hails from Ranchi, Jharkhand, has enjoyed tremendous success in his five-and-a-half year career as an international cricketer.
After he made his First-class and List A debut for Jharkhand in the 1999-2000 season as an 18-year- old, Dhoni first represented India in a Test match against Sri Lanka in December 2005. Since then, it has been a meteoric rise for this talented cricketer.
In his time as captain of the Indian cricket team, Dhoni has tasted success in all three formats of the game. He led India to ICC World Twenty20 and ICC ODI World Cup glory in 2007 and 2011 respectively. With Dhoni at the helm, India also registered their only ODI tri-series victory in Australia in early 2008.
Having taken over Test captaincy from Anil Kumble in late 2008, Dhoni has gone on to lead India in Test series victories against England, Australia and New Zealand at home. In early 2009, India beat New Zealand in New Zealand under his captaincy in a three-match Test-series for the first time in 41 years. Earlier this year, he also became the only Indian captain to have led managed to draw a Test series against South Africa on their home turf.
In T20 cricket, Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings have won the IPL for two years in a row, which includes their recent triumph in May 2011. The CSK outfit have also tasted Champions League Twenty20 success under MSD’s captaincy.
Speaking on Dhoni’s success as captain, Sachin Tendulkar had once said, “He stays calm. Situational awareness has been his biggest strength. He reads the situation well, is open to ideas, and above all, he doesn't show frustration.”
Former India captain and batting legend Sourav Ganguly has called him India’s greatest captain ever while the pacer Praveen Kumar has labelled him the ‘Obama of cricket’.
Earlier this year, Dhoni made it to Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2011 list and also finished as Sports Pro’s 10th most marketable athlete behind international sporting icons Usain Bolt, LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
