Decoding Dhoni

No one says no to Sourav Ganguly. At least not when he’s trying to make your cricket career.

But a young MS Dhoni didn’t get that memo. Asked to play for Kolkata by the Prince himself, a 20-year-old Mahi declined the offer and continued on with his Jharkhand team.

Because young or old, pre-India debut or semi-retired, MS Dhoni has managed to always ensure one thing – that he stays true to himself.

MS Dhoni does what MS Dhoni wants.

Lucky for Indian cricket though, there was a time when our former captain wasn’t as bullheaded about his ambitions. At least not when he was 12. At least not when it came to his choice of sport.

The story is only too well documented, but the start of Dhoni’s cricket career also perhaps gives one the greatest insight on the reason behind his decade-long success. A goalkeeper in his school football team, a young Mahiwas recruited by the cricket coach as a stand-in wicket keeper for a match. ‘Chance milega kya?’ he famously asked, just wanting to play. Any sport. Anywhere.

As a young boy, Dhoni never really dreamed of becoming an Indian cricketer, let alone the captain, or a World Cup winner, or a legend. But it all came his way, in dollops, because again, MS Dhoni does what MS Dhoni wants. Be it fighting his father to risk his job as a train ticket collector to play cricket or dropping senior players from the Indian team to make way for future match-winners. No decision would have been easy, but all made with a calm head and logic that is his very own. Luck wasn’t too far from the mix, either.

But for a man who has spent over a decade in the spotlight, the above anecdotes and few others would be all that's known about his private life. In the age of one-Virat-selfie-a-day, MS Dhoni still manages to do what MS Dhoni wants. Younger match-winners are now waiting to pounce on any chance he gives them for his spot, but the former skipper is unfazed. Strong as ever, at his spot in the order and behind the wickets.

However, how much more is there to MS Dhoni beyond the game? What does he like? Where does he spend his time? Hell, what bikes does he ride? The Quint's decided to give you a one-stop answer to all those questions.