Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni often referred to as “Captain Cool’ by cricket fraternity has got a few secrets. Dhoni shares a good bond with his close friends and former team-mates, dating back to the time he represented Bihar in the early 2000s.
Recently, Satya Prakash, one of Dhoni’s close friends in the Bihar Ranji Trophy team, came up with some interesting anecdotes about the early cricketing life of one of the greatest batsmen of modern times.
“We used to call him atankwadi (terrorist). He used to hit 40-50 runs in 20 balls. But he became a saint when he played for the country and changed his approach. He is a good learner,” Prakash was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
Dhoni, who was a swashbuckling hitter at the start of his career and in the initial few years really transformed into a reliable middle order player and massively successful finisher once he was the full-time captain of the team.
Before being appointed the national team skipper, Dhoni hardly captained even at the domestic level. His primary focus was scoring the big runs while batting and being as effective as one could be behind the stumps.
“Dhoni rarely captained in the past, but see how he became the captain of some all-time great players. He always spoke in Hindi, but now he speaks fluently in English. We friends never really gauged his potential,” Prakash added.
Prakash also played Dhoni’s close friend in the movie ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’. He was the character who offered Dhoni with a job at Kharagpur railway station and his room-mate in West Bengal.
Dhoni’s humble beginning
Son of a Paan Singh and Devki Devi, Mahi had a humble childhood and grew up through financial struggles before he decided to follow his dream and pursue a cricketing career. He had a job with the Indian Railways and would represent the team in Ranji Trophy cricket.
From there he’s had a 15-year long international career; he has won three ICC trophies and is the only player to achieve this feat.
