INDIA
Full name - Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Born - July 7, 1981, Ranchi, Bihar
Current age - 25 years 136 days
Major teams - India, Jharkhand
Also known - Mahi
Batting style - Right-hand bat
Bowling style - Right-arm medium
Fielding position - Wicketkeeper
Statsguru - Test player, ODI player
| BATTING AND FIELDING AVERAGES |
| class |
mat |
inns |
no |
runs |
hs |
ave |
bf |
sr |
100 |
50 |
4s |
6s |
ct |
st |
| Tests |
13 |
20 |
1 |
602 |
148 |
31.68 |
826 |
72.88 |
1 |
3 |
76 |
14 |
38 |
9 |
| ODIs |
55 |
49 |
13 |
1596 |
183* |
44.33 |
1620 |
98.51 |
2 |
9 |
138 |
48 |
52 |
10 |
| First-class |
47 |
76 |
4 |
2550 |
148 |
35.41 |
|
|
4 |
15 |
|
|
137 |
23 |
| List A |
106 |
97 |
21 |
3484 |
183* |
45.84 |
|
|
8 |
20 |
|
|
115 |
24 |
| class |
mat |
balls |
runs |
wkts |
bbi |
bbm |
ave |
econ |
sr |
4 |
5 |
10 |
| Tests |
13 |
6 |
13 |
0 |
- |
- |
- |
13.00 |
- |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| ODIs |
55 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| First-class |
47 |
18 |
20 |
0 |
- |
- |
- |
6.66 |
- |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| List A |
106 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| CAREER STATISTICE |
 |
|
| Test debut |
India v Sri Lanka at Chennai - Dec 2-6, 2005 |
| Last Test |
West Indies v India at Kingston - Jun 30-Jul 2, 2006 |
| ODI debut |
Bangladesh v India at Chittagong (MAA) - Dec 23, 2004 |
| Last ODI |
India v Australia at Chandigarh - Oct 29, 2006 |
| First-class span |
1999/00 - 2006 |
| List A span |
1999/00 - 2006/07 |
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 - putting even Sehwag in the shade - and followed that up with a colossal 183 not out at Jaipur against Sri Lanka in November, when he broke Adam Gilchrist's record for the highest score by a wicketkeeper in ODIs. He made an instant impact on the Test level too, pounding 148 at Faisalabad, in only his fifth Test, when India were struggling to avoid the follow on, and established himself as one of the critical members of a revitilised side. Though he struggled with the bat in the West Indies, he wicketkeeping was top-class, especially when standing up to the stumps against the spinners.
Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (July 2006)
