A few days ago, one of the world’s most successful cricket captains, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, made a shocking statement in an Instagram video that saddened cricket fans around the globe.
Dhoni wrote- “Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. From 1929 hrs consider me as Retired.”
The post was accompanied by the gladdening clip of Dhoni’s most iconic memorable moments on the field. Comments full of love and gratitude came immediately from friends and fans, including Ranveer Singh, Bipasha Basu, Dia Mirza, Guru Randhawa, and hundreds more. The announcement has marked the end of the 16-year-long career of the ‘captain cool’ of the Indian cricket team.
The Indian cricket team had won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2010 and 2016 Asia Cups, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, under the captaincy of the legendary cricketer. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the players with more than 10,000 runs scored in One Day Internationals (ODIs). Everyone knows, Dhoni was a travelling ticket examiner (TTE), at Kharagpur railway station. But, here are some unknown facts about the former Indian captain that you are not aware of:
1. During the Indian team’s 2007 tour of England, Rahul Dravid desired to resign from captaincy, at that time BCCI President Sharad Pawar offered the captaincy to Tendulkar, but Sachin recommended Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
2. He was the second Indian after Kapil Dev to receive an honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel, on November 11, 2011.
3. He is one of the most sponsored athletes in India and has endorsed many brands, some of them are- RedBus, Mastercard India, Colgate, Orient, Dream 11, Indigo Paints, Cars24, GoDaddy, Netmeds.
4. MS Dhoni is claimed to have purchased his first bike for around Rs 4.500 and now has an impressive collection of bikes amounting to crores of rupees. The multi-crore garage which holds everything from vintage pieces to much-loved latest models, includes- Rajdoot RD350, Confederate Hellcat X32, Harley Davidson Fatboy, Yamaha FZ1, Ducati 1098, BSA Goldstar, etc.
5. The bat that MS Dhoni used in the 2011 World Cup Final versus Sri Lanka was sold at auction for Rs. 72 lakhs at the London hotel. The main aim of auctioning the bat was to raise funds for the Sakshi Foundation, which works for underprivileged children in India. The bat was acquired by RK Capital, an investment company from India.
6. M.S Dhoni had received the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian honour, in 2018.
7. His signature shot– ‘The helicopter shot’ was taught to him by one of his friend Santosh Lal who was the former Jharkhand cricketer.
Jersey “Dhoni 7” will be missed on the
field.