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Dhoni:The rise and the fall


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Table of contents

Brickbats and tricky wickets

We are like that only: The problem with Dhonis approach 04

Dhoni complains to BCCI about Gambhirs selsh attitude 06

The Al Pacino speech Dhoni must give his locker-room 07

India vs Eng: #PossibleDhoniExcuses is now trending on Twitter 09

Angry Dhoni hits out at cricket commentators 11

Dhoni ignores the spirit of cricket 12

Should Dhoni step down?

Dhoni, the captain, has run out of steam 14

Three selectors wanted Dhoni gone. So why is he still here? 16

Dhoni should not lead India in every format: Ganguly 18

Former players criticise Indias poor show, call for changes 20

Why does everyone want Dhoni out of his job? 21

It wasnt always like this....Dhoni is better than Bevan. He is the BEST nisher in the game 23

Dhonis calm shade of grey and he loves to wear it 25

Dhoni and Indias other small-town angels 27

Dhoni, grow your hair again be yourself again 29

Brand Dhoni has a life after cricket

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the world he is creating 32

For Dhoni, if its not about cricket, its about bikes 34

Dhoni to launch his personal line of fragrances 36

Dhoni to venture into tness biz, will set up 200 gyms 37

Drogba doesnt know Sachin but hes heard of Dhoni 38
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Brickbats and tricky wickets


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We are like that only:The problem with Dhonis approachDhoni seems to be unwilling to concede that anything

needs to change. Despite a pitch that was crumbling

from the rst day, he said after the match that it was

a very good wicket and that denitely all the

wickets should be like this.

Tariq Engineer, Nov 26, 2012

Englands comprehensive win over Indiain the second Test exposed the fatal awin MS Dhonis strategy: the lack of a

Plan B. Once Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersenbegan to get on top of Indias spinners, Dhonihad nowhere to turn. The lack of a Plan B alsoraises another question; has Dhoni run out ofideas in Test cricket?

From the start of the series, Indias captain hasbeen singing the same note. Yes, spin is Indias

strength and yes, England have a weaknessagainst spin but stacking the deck so far in onedirection means Dhoni leaves himself with noalternatives. Either the strategy works or Indiaare in trouble, which proved to be the case inMumbai.

Mohammad Azharuddin made playing threespinners a virtue in the 1990s. But not only haveIndias ambitions changed, the rest of the crick-eting world has more experience playing in the


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sub-continent thanks to the IPL and a growingnumber of coaching camps being held in thecountry. Cook himself has been the beneciaryof such camps, coming here as a youngster tolearn how to play in these conditions.

Yet Dhoni seems to be unwilling to concede thatanything needs to change. Despite a pitch that

was crumbling from the rst day, he said afterthe match that it was a very good wicket andthat denitely all the wickets should be likethis. He also appears reluctant to tamper withthe make-up of the side, saying you dont chopand change players on the basis of one of twoTest matches. You have to give them a fair run.

All of which suggests that Dhoni has decidedthere is only one way for India to play and is

reminiscent of his repeated comments whenIndia was losing to England and Australia. Es-sentially, India are what they are and there is nopoint in trying to change things because it wontdo any good. India will struggle against paceand seam abroad and India can only win seriesat home if they prepare rank turners. If the op-position outplays them and the strategy fails, so

be it. In effect, Dhoni doesnt seem to care thatit is his job as captain do something about it.

The problem with such an approach is that the

team will never get better and will never de-velop the ability to adapt to different conditions.Cheteshwar Pujara and Gautam Gambhir werethe only India batsman who showed the ap-plication necessary to survive at the WankhedeStadium. In the second innings, only Gambhirfaced more than 20 deliveries. That the spinners

were out-bowled by their England counterpartsis an even greater indictment of the side.

Dhonis reaction was to blame the conditions.Some conditions suit them really well andsome do not, he said by way of explanation of

why Monty Panesar was so successful, which isironic considering he picked those conditions.

Dhoni only has to look into the England dress-ing room to see how teams adapt their strate-

gies. England were criticized for not playingPanesar and getting the balance of their side

wrong. Used to playing three seamers, theyabandoned what has worked for them over thelast few years and Panesar rewarded them withthe best gures for an England spinner in thesubcontinent for 80 years.

India has eight days to reect before the teamsmeet at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Dhoni

would do well to heed the same lessons thatEngland did in that time.


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Dhoni complains to BCCIabout Gambhirs selfish attitude

But a source close to Gambhir hit back, saying that

Dhoni is just passing the blame on others and feels hisposition as captain is under threat from Gambhir.

FP Sports, Dec 12, 2012

It seems that the dismal performanceagainst England has led to huge cracks inTeam India.

After news of how selectors wanted MS Dhoniout as captain a year back, it has now emergedthat Dhoni has also made a complaint to theBCCI over Gambhirs selsh attitude.

A report on CricketNext quotes an unnamedmember of the Indian team as saying: Of lateGambhir has gone into a shell and focusing on

just to save his place in the team. But what irkedDhoni was Gambhir playing for himself and notfor the team. What possibly could be the reason

behind taking singles off the rst or second ballof an over and exposing the tailenders to Grae-me Swann and Monty Panesar (in Mumbai) ona rank turner?

Every run was crucial but Gambhir chose to bea mute spectator. The whole world saw that and

everyone was taken aback. If Ashwin can do,why couldnt Gambhir?

The source says that what added to Dhonisfrustration with Gambhir were the two run-outs

he was involved in. Gambhir was at the otherend when Virender Sehwag and CheteshwarPujara were run-out after some miss-communi-cation.

On both occasions, Gambhir was at fault.Dhoni doesnt have doubts about his integrityor commitment. Gambhir, obviously, didnt doanything deliberately. Its just that in his strug-gle to overcome poor form, he is overlookingteams interest and remains oblivious of teamgoals. This has not gone down well with Dhoni,

who is determined to win the Nagpur Test andlevel the series, and he conveyed his thoughts tothe BCCI ofcials in no uncertain terms.

The source was also quoted as saying thatsomeone from the BCCI will speak to Gambhirabout this episode: One of the BCCI ofcials

will speak to Gambhir before the match and thematter will be sorted out.

But a source close to Gambhir hit back, sayingthat Dhoni is just passing the blame on oth-ers: Dhonis captaincy is under re. Hes beingcensured by one and all. His place in the Test

team is questioned, so hes trying to pass thebuck and blame others whether his batsmen,spinners, Sehwag and now Gambhir to savehis face. He sees Gambhir as a potential threatto his captaincy and wants to undermine him.

India have not lost a series to England in 28years and would like to keep it that way, but ifthings within the camp are so bad, then one canexpect that run come to an end.

To read the full Cricket Next report, CLICKHERE.
http://cricketnext.in.com/live/news/dhoni-miffed-with-gambhir-complains-to-bcci/69808-13.htmlhttp://cricketnext.in.com/live/news/dhoni-miffed-with-gambhir-complains-to-bcci/69808-13.htmlhttp://cricketnext.in.com/live/news/dhoni-miffed-with-gambhir-complains-to-bcci/69808-13.htmlhttp://cricketnext.in.com/live/news/dhoni-miffed-with-gambhir-complains-to-bcci/69808-13.htmlhttp://www.firstpost.com/


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The Al Pacino speechDhoni must give his locker-roomIt is time he put aside his Captain Cool persona

and made an emotional appeal to the squad.

Tariq Engineer, Dec 12, 2012

India head to Nagpur for the fourth andnal Test in disarray. Home advantagefailed them in Mumbai and they were

comprehensively outplayed on a good wicket inKolkata. England have all the momentum andIndia are now in serious danger of losing theirrst home series in eight years and their rsthome series to England in 28 years. They havealso lost Umesh Yadav to injury and the selec-tors have dropped Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan

Singh, so the bowling attack will be at its mostinexperienced in years. Coupled with the capitu-lation in Kolkata, this team needs to have a relit underneath it and the man to do that is still

MS Dhoni.

It is time he put aside his Captain Cool perso-na and made an emotional appeal to the squad.Heres the speech we think he should give onthe eve of the Test.

Boys,

You know me. I like to keep an even keel. I like

to stay on top of my emotions. I try to treat win-ning and losing the same way. That allows meto make decisions in the moment and not worryabout consequences. But that doesnt mean I


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dont care about winning and losing. Losinghurts. It always has. If you are a professionalsportsman and losing doesnt hurt, then some-thing is wrong.Right now, all of us should be hurting. If any of

you are not, then you can get up and leave thedressing room. If any of you dont believe wecan come back and win in Nagpur, then you canget up and leave the dressing room.

Maybe we took beating England a little bit forgranted after Ahmedabad. Thats on me. Butnow we are in a corner and there is only one

way out of it and that is to ght. To ght for eve-ry run, for every wicket. We have to back our-selves and each other. We have to come off thateld at the end of ve days knowing we gaveeverything. That we fought every ball, every ses-

sion, every day. That we fought as a team.

This Test is not about which team has moreability. You guys have plenty of ability. Dontlisten to what the media says. They have to sellnewspapers. And sometimes teams get out-played. That is the nature of sport. What is notacceptable is being soft. What is not acceptableis simply accepting this situation and pretend-ing it is business as usual. What this Test is

going to come down to is, will. Desire. Hunger.Belief. It is about wanting it more than EnglandIt is about wanting to go out there and makeEngland hurt the way we are hurting now.

Yes, we are a team in transition. Any side isgoing to miss players like Dravid and Laxman.But we should use them as inspiration now. Ifthose two were here in this room, they would

want to make England suffer. They would wantto pay them back for the pain of losing in Mum-

bai and Kolkata. They would put a price on theirwickets. And they would be ready, mentally andphysically, for the challenge. Thats the legacy

we have to live up to. Thats the standard wehave to maintain.

Is that fair? Perhaps not. But life is not aboutfair. Life is about meeting whatever challengescome your way head on. So when we go outthere tomorrow, we have to go out there united.There are no short-cuts now. We do this as a

team. We do this knowing the guy standing nextto us wants to win as badly as we do; that he is

willing to sacrice and push himself because heknows you will do the same. We do this becauseotherwise this team dies. Thats the choice liv-ing or dying.

No England team has won in India for 28 years.I dont plan on being the captain that loses thatrecord. I look around and I know you dont want

to be the team that loses that record. So lets goout on the eld and prove it to the world.
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India vs Eng:

#PossibleDhoniExcusesis now trending on Twitter

FP Staff, Dec 9, 2012

India suffered another humiliating lossto England in the ongoing test series to-day. England beat India at Eden Gardens,

Kolkata by seven wickets to win the third test inthe series and have now taken a 2-1 lead.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has comeout and blamed the batsmen for the debacle.

After the match today he said, We need to givebowlers a few more runs. We havent scoredconsistently over 300. On this wicket we should

have scored 450 or above. The batsmen who gotstarts didnt make it matter.

But while Dhoni is busy blaming batsmen, thehash tag #PossibleDhoniExcuses is alreadytrending on Twitter.

We take a look at some of the funniest tweetsfrom Twitter on the list of possible Dhoni ex-cuses for this defeat:


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Angry Dhoni hits out atcricket commentators

Dhoni said that in Indian cricket, the people who

praise you are the same who run you down whenthings are going bad. He also said that he didnt

have a platform like TV or a column.

IANS, Dec 4, 2012

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whohas been criticised by some former Indiancricketers about his demand for rank turn-

ers, Tuesday took a dig at his critics saying he

was not bothered.

I dont have a platform like them. I am not onTV assessing neither do I write columns, saidDhoni when asked to comment about formerplayers criticising him.

Criticism is a big part and parcel of the game,especially in Indian cricket. You get a lot ofsupport when you perform well. But the samepeople run you down when you do not do well,

he said.

I am not bothered by what is being said,added Dhoni.

On if he was under pressure as captain, Dhonisaid he preferred walking the middle path andnot getting swayed either by adulation or criti-cism.

It goes either ways. Leading the side for thelast three or four years you get in a situation tohandle pressure. The good thing is you see bothsides of the coin. With every game emotionsow.

When team does well, you get appreciated andshould also take criticism when you dont do

well. The important thing is you learn to walkthe middle path, added Dhoni.


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Dhoni ignoresthe spirit of cricket

Former ICC umpire Daryla Harper has hit out at

MS Dhoni, saying the India captain has a history ofdisrespecting the spirit of the game

FP Sports, Nov 27, 2012

Daryl Harper, the former ICC umpire,has called MS Dhoni a repeat offend-er against the spirit of cricket and said

the Indian captain was above the game. Hiscomments follow Dhonis decision not to recall

England middle-order batsman Jonny Bairstow,who was controversially given out caught at sillymid-off in the second Test in Mumbai.

Gautam Gambhir took a sharp catch off a lead-ing edge from Bairstow but there was somedoubt about whether the ball touched the hel-

met grille before Gambhir was able to completethe catch. Under the rules of the game, a bats-man cannot be given out if the ball strikes theelders helmet.

It is a clear breach of the laws of cricket, andany national captain worth his weight in salt or any other condiment would have im-mediately withdrawn the appeal and allowedBairstow to continue his innings, Harper told

Sports360.

But this captain is a repeat offender when itcomes to ignoring the spirit of cricket, he said.

Harper listed a number of instances in whichhe believed Dhonis behaviour had violated the

spirit of the game, including after the rst Testwhen Dhoni said India had been forced to takemore than 10 wickets in the second innings and

when he made similar comments in Jamaica in2011.

However, the most glaring example, accordingto Harper, was the dismissal of Ian Bell duringIndias tour of England in 2011. Though Bell

was eventually recalled, Harper said that deci-

sion was taken despite Dhonis objections. Heclaimed the umpires asked Dhoni three times towithdraw his appeal but Dhoni refused and thatit took a team meeting and a player vote thatoverturned Dhonis decision before Bell could

be recalled. That attitude, according to Harper,suggests Dhoni believes himself to be above thegame.

Harper was a Test umpire from 1998 to 2011.He was a member of the Elite Panel of ICC Um-

pires from 2002 until 2011. He retired follow-ing complaints from India about the quality ofhis umpiring in the rst Test against the WestIndies in Jamaica last year. Subsequently DaveRichardson, then the ICC Cricket manager, saidHarper had received unfair criticism for hisperformance in that match.


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Should Dhoni step down?


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Dhoni, the captain,has run out of steam

The 4-0 Test defeats in England and Australia took him

to the brink and then the retirements of Rahul Dravid

and VVS Laxman dealt the knockout blows. Its almost

as if overnight, the world changed.

Ashish Magotra, Dec 7, 2012

We should be talking cricket here. Butfor a moment, lets take a walk in the

boxing ring and talk about the sweetscience instead.

Through the history of the sport, there havealways been boxers who had it all the perfect

jab, the powerful straight, the brutal uppercut,the quick feet, the strong legs, the brains. They

were good, so good that many of them werentbeaten for years. But then one punch some-times from a no name opponent would get

through their defence and hit them squarely onthe chin.

They would get knocked out. Suddenly, theirworld would turn dark.

Some boxers refer to it as time lost. It could 10

seconds or 20; it could even be 10 minutes. Youjust dont know. When you come around, all yousee are the ashing lights of ringside doctorspeering into his eyes.


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The knockout does two things: it makes youaware of your mortality and your weakness. Andit changes the way you ght you worry about

your defence, you lose your attacking instinct,you think about losing, you think about yourreputation. Thats what a knockout can do.

And right now, thats what Dhoni must befeeling. Hes been knocked out. In many ways,Dhoni has had a privileged time with the India when he came into the team in 2005, India

were on the upward curve. They had the rightmen in place and the 2007 World Cup defeat

was in the eyes of many simply an aberration.

His captaincy was even better the 2007 WorldT20 title gave him clout, the rise to world no1 in the Test rankings made him a great and

the 2011 World Cup title made him a legend.Through this all, he never got knocked out.

Yes, there was the odd defeat but there was noknockout. There was no lying on your back andstaring at the lights.

But the 4-0 Test defeats in England and Aus-tralia took him to the brink and then the retire-ments of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman dealtthe knockout blows. Its almost as if overnight,

the world changed.

In this world, Australia lose at home; Englandcan play spin; South Africa dont choke and Ma-hendra Singh Dhoni loses.

Of course, someone might turn around and saythat Dhoni got a fty today and helped Indiapast the 300 mark. But this isnt about him as a

batsman or a wicket-keeper. This is about him

as a captain; as a leader of men.

There are certain things that a captain bringsto a side and intensity is just one of them. So

when one sees the bowlers just running in andbowling with any real intensity, who should beblamed? When one sees the eld being spreadout as early as the 10th over in the innings, whoshould be blamed? When Pragyan Ojha, your

best bowler in the series, isnt brought into theattack till the 25th over, who should be blamed?

It might be easy to say Indias bowlers are bad,the batting is fragile but in reality it all starts atthe top. When the captain looks disinterested,the rest simply go their own way. He might

bemoan his lack of options but this is the sameskipper who didnt think twice about employ-ing an 8-1 eld against Australia at Nagpur withthe series on the line. Where has that sense ofadventurism gone? Is he still worried about thepunch that will come in from the blind side andknock him out?

The Indian team wants to win this series makeno mistake about that. They want to win this

badly but right now they are just a bunch oflone wolves trying to do their own thing. Thereis no strength because they just arent huntingtogether. In many ways, its like the Indian team

from the 90s the odd good performance inter-spersed with plenty of failures in between.

Dhoni has never been a great Test skipper buthe has always been very good in ODIs and T20s.But previously, he didnt really need to go up tothe players and tell them what to do. His skillsas a captain simply werent tested. Now, thatthey are, hes coming up short.

A great American coach Vince Lombardi oncesaid, The real glory is being knocked to yourknees and then coming back. Thats real glory.

But it doesnt seem like Dhoni is interested inglory. He is interested in winning easy, he isalso interested in the pitch. The interest in cap-taincy though, seems to be slipping away. Its

just an added responsibility, you see. Its notwhat he wants, remember: If there is a better

replacement, he can come in.

So its about time, the Indian selectors take aleap of faith. For how long can they hide behindthe theres no one else excuse. Honestly, givenIndias performances in the recent past, itshard to imagine Gautam Gambhir or Virat Kohlido any worse.

Every captain has a shelf life and whether welike it or not, Dhoni has reached the end of his.


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Three selectors wanted Dhoni gone.So why is he still here?Perhaps the philosophical answer is that this is

how Indian cricket is run and this is how it

has always been run.

FP Editors, Dec 12, 2012

Former selector Mohinder Amarnath hascome out and said the Indian selectors

were actually thinking of sacking Mahen-dra Singh Dhoni just after the 4-0 humiliatingloss in Australia.

In a tell-all interview to TIMES NOW, Amar-nath said, Denitely, there were discussionsto replace Dhoni and people had even agreed

to do so, but for some internal reason it didnthappen. I would not like to divulge what thereasons were.

Now, Amarnath may not have wanted to divulge

the reasons but the Indian Express went aheadand spoke to one of the selectors Raja Venkatabout what actually happened.

Amarnath (North Zone), Narendra Hirwani(Central Zone) and Raja Venkat (East Zone)

were in favour of removing Dhoni as Test skip-per. But the move came a cropper when BCCIsecretary Sanjay Jagdale consulted BCCI presi-

dent N Srinivasan over the issue.

Sanjay Jagdale, the BCCI secretary and con-vener of the national selection committee, con-sulted BCCI president N Srinivasan who shot


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down the proposal. Srinivasan made it clearthat though the majority of selectors felt thatDhoni didnt inspire condence as Test skipper,the time was not right to remove him, Venkattold Indian Express.

Now, the constitution doesnt state whetherthe president can or cannot intervene. It does,however, state that the selectors need to informthe Board president of their decision. Whetherthe president then agrees or disagrees with theirndings is upto him.

But there have been earlier instances of Boardpresidents interfering with the selection proc-ess. So this isnt exactly new.

In 1992-93, Mohammad Azharuddin was on the

verge of losing the captaincy, and quite possi-bly his place in the side, after disastrous toursto Australia and South Africa saw him starthis captaincy with one win and seven losses.By popular opinion, Kapil Dev was supposedto take over. But then Ajit Wadekar made animpassioned plea to Madhavrao Scindia, whointervened.

The Jagmohan Dalmiya camp are also believed

to have solidly stood behind Sourav Ganguly onall occasions.

Then again, as recently as 2005, Sharad Pawardid his best to rehabilitate Sourav Ganguly afterhe was axed from the team in December.

Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, told theTimes of India, As a cricket lover, I am hurtand shocked over the exclusion of Ganguly. In

the Delhi Test his performance was satisfactory.Also, he was a victorious captain and we feelproud of him.

Pawar let it be known that it is my prerogativeto sit with the selectors in the next two or threedays to understand what actually happened.

As things turned out, by January 2006, Gangulywas back in the team and he stayed there till2008.

So when we ask why Dhoni is still here thenperhaps the philosophical answer is that this ishow Indian cricket is run and this is how it hasalways been run.

The appointment of professional selectors wassupposed to change this. But instead, they seemmore bothered about getting money in the bank,rather than truly earning it.

Amarnath and Venkats disclosures show thatIndian cricket continues to be run by the ad-ministrators but if they were truly serious about

wanting to change things, they need not havewaited till now. They should have come out inthe open and said what they really wanted to

when it mattered.

Why have they suddenly decided to come outwith a disclosure now? Why dont they tell us

why RP Singh was picked for the England tourdespite being clearly unt? Is there anotheragenda that they are pushing? If the selectorshad not had the discussion regarding Dhonithen that would have proved that there wassomething really wrong with the system.

At some level, you would want the president,the chief selector and the captain to be on thesame page but when the partnership starts

clouding your judgement, it spells big trouble.


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Dhoni should not lead Indiain every format: GangulySit with Dhoni and ask him what form of cricket

he wants to captain. He has done a lot of good things

for Indian cricket, but at the present moment,

I am just fearing that we will lose him as a player

if he continues like this, Ganguly said witha note of caution.

PTI, Dec 10, 2012

New Delhi: Former skipper Sourav Gan-guly today endorsed the idea of splitcaptaincy and said Mahendra Singh

Dhoni should not be leading the Indian cricketteam in all formats.

I am not saying just ship him off all the for-mats of the game because India are going intoa transition phase and build a new team. Sit

with Dhoni and ask him what form of cricket

he wants to captain. He has done a lot of goodthings for Indian cricket, but at the present mo-ment, I am just fearing that we will lose him asa player if he continues like this, Ganguly said

with a note of caution.

Despite having lost six out of the last sevenTests against England, Ganguly chose not to betoo harsh on Dhoni. Keeping is never easy and

when you have a bowling attack like ours, which


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has not performed over a period of time. Youkeep for hours and then you captain the sideand you come out and bat at no 7.

So its never easy for for Dhoni and Im a rmbeliever that his job has to be split and he needsa reprieve in some format, Ganguly told Head-lines Today. Talking on Sachin Tendulkarsform, the former India skipper said, Sachindesperately needs to get runs. He has achieved alot. He is getting a long rope because of what hehas achieved. He should know himself that howhe needs to turn it around.

As somebody watching it from outside Ten-dulkar not performing, I think if I was Ten-dulkar I would go. But its upto him at thepresent moment. We want to see the great man

going with a bat held high and not in terribleform.

Coming back to Dhoni, he said, You do not ex-pect selectors to come out and say we have putDhoni on notice. You cant say this in public, itsnot fair. I dont think that will ever happen withthe BCCI.

I dont know what the real story is. Whether

Dhoni has been put on notice or whether theselectors have spoken to him or not, is immate-rial. Half the players dont get to know it. If youare trying to build a new team, the message hasto be consistent. I agree that Dhoni needs to be

looked after and needs to be spoken to.

As discussion turned to Zaheer Khans omis-sion, he said, The Indian team is going througha rebuilding phase, you have to have plan. Mypoint is that the plan has to be uniform for eve-ryone.

Another former captain, Kapil Dev felt therewas no suitable replacement for Dhoni.

Do we have another player to captain at thisstage? I dont see anybody. If Virat Kohli startsgetting runs I can understand, but he is also notgetting runs. I dont think anybody is ready. Idont think sacking anybody in the middle of theseries is right. He is under pressure, the selec-tors have to sit and talk to him. He has to speak

to himself that look I have to perform well.

Kapil said the board should disclose its plan forthe teams future.

They shouldnt do what they used to do in80s. You lost a series, a new captain comes out.

Again a series is lost and a new captain comesin. I think that is sad. What we would want isthat selectors and the board tells us what is their

plan dont hide. People are very concerned,lets not have rumours. They should come outstraight. Rumours are not good for the countryand for the team.


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Former players criticise Indiaspoor show, call for changes

PTI, Dec 9, 2012

New Delhi: Indias meek surrender in

two consecutive Tests against Englandon home turf was lambasted by former

players, who felt it was high time the selectorsmade players accountable for their shambolicperformance.

India lost by seven wickets in the third Testin Kolkata to concede an unassailable 2-1 se-ries lead to England, who had earlier mauledthe hosts by 10 wickets in the second match inMumbai.

England were well-prepared while India wereover-condent. The Indian preparation for thisimportant series was diabolical, said formercaptain and ex-chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar.

When we went to England we played onewarm-up game before plunging into the Testseries. The same happened when we went to

Australia. By contrast Englands preparationswere very good. I hope the selectors show visionand courage of conviction. At least a couple ofchanges are expected straightaway, he said.

Another former chief selector Kris Srikkanth di-rected his ire towards skipper Mahendra Singh

Dhoni, calling him confused.

Denitely Dhoni is confused. He does not knowwhat to do and when things go out of control hejust lets them drift away, he said.

Kiran More, also a former selector, said some

changes should be made to the side ahead of thefourth Test starting on Thursday in Nagpur.

We were outplayed in all departments and ifyou dont score 450 plus in the rst innings on atrack that was provided, you are already on the

backfoot. At this point of time you cannot havewholesale changes, may be one or two changesfor the next Test match.

Former batsman Kirti Azad ridiculed the teamsperformance and praised the Englishmen foradapting to theconditions.

It is not just the batsmen, it is the entire team.I fail to understand that our spinners werestruggling to take wickets but look at the spin-ners of the England team. They have bowled toa very good line. They are not trying anything

because the wicket is helpful.

They have managed to put batsmen under alot of pressure and you could see that even thegod of cricket struggled to get into form. I haveheard Niranjan Shah say that this team can do

wonders. Sure it can but only in the dressingroom I suppose, he said.

Azad said the team lacks consistent performers.

I think we have the best team on paper. I hopewe are not reduced to paper tigers. We havesome great players in the side but it seems theyare supporting each other rather than trying tosupport and make a good Indian team.

We have good players who can perform wellbut then your greatness is known by your con-sistency, if you dont have consistency than youold records will not help you, he said.

Forner captain Mohammed Azharuddin said,Itwas a disappointing performance and it wastime for youngsters to get a chance.


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Why does everyone wantDhoni out of his job?

Veteran cricket writer Ayaz Memon also believes

that change is in order but not because Dhoni is

doing a bad job.

FP Sports, Oct 13, 2012

It didnt happen after England. It didnthappen even after Australia. But suddenlyafter Indias exit from the World T20, eve-

rybody wanted Dhoni out of his job.

It didnt quite make sense. The Twenty20 for-mat is a lottery all the players know that andIndias record in the tournament wasnt all that

bad. In fact, India managed to win 4 out of 5matches in the tournament.

Veteran cricket writer Ayaz Memon also be-lieves that change is in order but not becauseDhoni is doing a bad job.

I think the workload on him is very heavy. Thepressures of captaining India in three differentformats are immense and I am talking not justabout the physical workload but also the mentalaspect, said Ayaz. The formats are not verydifferent but the tactical aspects of each formatare very different and so the pressures on thecaptain are different as well.

I think he needs to be relieved of one of those

formats and I would say the T20. Not Testmatch cricket; not even ODI cricket.

So in essence, Dhoni needs to follow the lead ofMahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan skipper

who gave up T20 captainship after the WorldT20 nal because he wanted the team to lookforward.

That is precisely what Dhoni needs to do andI believe the youngster to take over from him is

Virat Kohli. Then the BCCI can build a youngteam for the next World T20. Either Dhonitakes the decision himself or somebody willhave to take it for him. He may still remain part

of the team but he is not carrying the burden ofcaptaincy.

The selectors also need to sit him down and askhim what he really wants for ODIs and Tests.

They need to tell him Boss, tell us what teamyou want and then you deliver. We dont wantthat excuse later that I wanted this team but Ididnt have him and so we lost. All that non-sense has to stop.

And just as we speak about having differentteams and captains for different formats, is ittime for India to have different coaches for dif-

ferent formats too?

The T20 format is something that DuncanFletcher would not have thought it was possibleat all till it eventually happened. Its very mucha young cricketers format and having a much

younger coach take over is not a bad idea at all.

In fact, it might even be a way to help mentor anew coach for the Indian team as well. And also

because I see a lot more T20s being played inthe future, even if it is at the expense of ODIs.

Watch Video:
http://av.firstpost.com/2012/10/160746_sportstalk-12-oct-2nd-part-1.mp4http://www.firstpost.com/


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It wasnt always like this....


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Dhoni is better than Bevan.He is the BEST finisher in the game

Statistics put Dhonis nishing percentage even

higher than that of Michael Bevan. Needless to say,

no other Indian even gets close.

Ashish Magotra, Oct 21, 2011

Watching Mahendra Singh Dhoni batin a chase is a learning experience the way he builds an innings; the way

he calms the nerves of the other batsmen; theway he makes them contribute; the way he givesthe opposition no chance at all.

What the Indian skipper brings to the middleisnt quantiable. Its simply magic. As he led

India to another win in the third ODI againstEngland at Mohali, none of us were surprised.

We had seen him do it so many times before,that only if he fails would we question his

method. The template of his innings is normallya slow start as he settles in, lots of singles andthen he builds to a crescendo. The innings heplayed in the World Cup nal was exactly that it wasnt a uke; its the way he plays.

There are images of Mahendra Singh Dhonithat are stuck in our heads most of them havehim holding the bat, hitting the winnings runs.

It isnt a sheer coincidence that he is there somany times at the end, guiding India to victory with a twirl of the bat, a smile on his face andthe helicopter shot thrown in for good effect.


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The science of chasing tactics is something thatDhoni is privy to alone because only he knows

what goes on in his head. But the numbers arethere for all to see and they are simply astound-ing.

Fathom this. In ODIs, Dhoni has played 194matches. Of those matches, hes not had to batin 21 games, so that gives him a total of 173 in-nings. Now, hes been not out 46 times in thesematches. Now, here comes the clincher: Of the46 times that he has been not out; India has lost

just three matches. Just three

That gives India a winning percentage of 93.5per cent when Dhoni is at the wicket. For some-one who has been playing ODIs since 2004, thatis a frightening statistic. It also shows that he is

the best nisher in ODI cricket at present, per-haps even the best the world has ever seen.

To most of us who have a keen interest in thegame, the best nisher of the game was a cer-tain, Michael Bevan. The Australian was simplysuperb. He had a keen sense of occasion, knewhow to pace his innings and more often thannot, he helped Australia to victory.

But not even Bevan was as potent as Dhoni is.

The Australian played a total of 232 ODIs forAustralia and was not out 67 times in 196 in-nings. But Australia lost 13 matches even whenBevan was around in the end. That gives Bevana nishing percentage of 80.6.

The difference is big. Perhaps one of the reasonsfor the difference is the strike-rate. While Dho-nis strike-rate is 88.34, Bevan was positivelyslow in comparison with an SR of 74.16.

And come the big match, Dhoni seems to ndhis best form too. In 11 nals, he has an averageof 49.77. Cometh the moment, cometh the man.He just cant be denied and perhaps becausehes done it so many times before, it just seemslike another day at the ofce to him.

For a long time, Indias problems in ODIs usedto stem from their inability to nish things off.

We would invariably start well but then stall atcrucial moments. For a while, Ajay Jadeja lledthe slot. Then there was Robin Singh. Even Ra-hul Dravid had a go but nobody was as good as

Dhoni. No one even came close.

If one were asked to explain Indias recent suc-cess in ODIs in one word, all clues would simplypoint to Dhoni. As long as hes around, Indiahas hope. And if he stays in long enough, India

will win. So far, thats the way its been.

If England wants to win even one match in theseries, they will have to get Dhoni out. Or else

they might as well be up a creek without a pad-dle because they are ghting against the tideand you can rarely ever ght nature and comeout triumphant.


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Dhonis calm shade of greyand he loves to wear it

The Indian skippers calm has become an aspect of

his persona that his teammates respect and his

opponents have learned to fear.

Ashish Magotra, Jul 20, 2011

Just before the start of the World Cup,India were having a short training campin Bangalore and one of the days was set

aside for the teams interaction with the media.

It was a pretty hectic day questions were be-ing thrown at Mahendra Singh Dhoni, some

tough, others pretty boring. But through it all,he rarely ever broke a sweat. In fact, he evenfound time to sit among the media and ask

Virender Sehwag a few tough questions. Thatelicited a few laughs from the journalists who

had gathered there, but mostly they were all inawe.

As he exited the room, he was chased by auto-graph hunters. Not for a moment did he pause,he continued walking towards the elevator at asteady pace, signing as many autographs as he

could. Then, as he waited for the elevator, morequestions were thrown at him. A few soundedlike statements though, It must be great be-ing captain of India, you get so much fame andmoney.


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At this, Dhoni paused. He looked at the manand with a big grin said, You forgot about thegrey hair.

And we thought that would have escaped hisnotice. But hes almost like the Phantom in thatrespect: he has eyes at the back of his head. Hedoesnt forget anything. Not the hours spent inhotels; not the critics; not the wins and certain-ly, not the losses.

They say captaining India is one of the moststressful jobs in the world. And even thoughDhoni doesnt show it, one look at the rapidlygreying hair and you know he feels every littlething that happens on the pitch. He probablyagonises over some of the decisions (like thedraw in West Indies for example), but he hardly

ever shows it.

What would Sourav Ganguly have done if Ku-mar Sangakkara had pulled the controversialtoss stunt on him before the World cup nal?

Well, for starters he would have thrown atantrum. Then, the news would have lteredthrough to the Bengali media and they too

would have thrown a tantrum. Then nally, thenews would lter down to the crowd and they

would have thrown a few bottles on the ground.And that would be that.

Dhoni, in contrast, calmly asked for a re-tossand when he had the chance to bat, producedan innings so special that no captain will evertry tricking the Indian skipper again. A tantrum

wouldnt be his style. He isnt an impulsive man

he likes to plan things out and loves nothingmore than to see the turn of events follow thatpath.

He (Dhoni) leads from the front, is a verydangerous cricketer and is possibly the mostcharismatic player India have ever had, with thesway he holds in that country now, Swann wasquoted, as saying by The Daily Express. If wecan get at anyone, he is probably the key man.

England have, on their part, launched a verbalattack on India. It began with DRS, but evennow, just a day before the Lords Test, the men-tal battle is on in full swing. In Gangulys era, a

war of words would have ensued, Rahul Dravidwould have grimaced and shrugged it off, AnilKumble would have been philosophical about

it Dhoni has just maintained an almost stoicsilence.

Its almost like you know him, but you dont.And thats the quality that puts the opposition,in this case England, at unease. You never quiteknow what hes thinking. If there was one crick-eter who could survive in Indian politics today,it would probably be Dhoni and even that would

boil down to his calm.

Unrufed and unbeaten in his stint as captain,Dhonis calm has become an aspect of his per-sona that his teammates respect and his oppo-nents have learned to fear. Silence, at least, inthe Indian skipper case hardly every goes un-noticed.


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Dhoni and Indias othersmall-town angelsAcross India there were only a few Dravids or

Sachins or Dhonis but there were hundreds, maybe

thousands, of youngsters who aspire to make

a name of their own.

Tom Alter, Oct 7, 2011

In Dehradun, at a very good friends place,his friends come over for tea one of themstill very lean and t, about my age we

begin talking; Dehradun and Mussoorie mid-70s then cricket. He used to play for Sham-rock Club, the leading club of Dun in those days.

Suddenly, we disappear 35 years back in timenames and grounds and even scores roll out,like a batting order drawn up by eternity twocommon friends names are especially remem-

bered RP and Aslam

RP and Aslam they were the Amitabh Bach-han and Shashi Kapoor of Dehradun alwaystogether, they were true heroes. RP, lean andlithe, a natural athlete, good at any game, quietand true, a batsman who played as if in Essex,

and yet with the whippy excellence of Dravid.He ended up teaching at the Doon School, alocal boy coming good ended up as a House-master, should have been Headmaster. I actual-


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ly managed to dismiss him once, at our groundin Mussoorie my greatest sporting achieve-ment.

And Aslam, the Afghan, tough and handsomeand full of so much life a real-life Dilip Ku-mar, and he could play any sport, too as agoalkeeper in football he was magical as a

wicketkeeper only slightly less magical.

This was in the pre-Dhoni era decades beforethe Dhoni era when for us in Mussoorie, toplay cricket in Dehra Dun; to play cricket withRP and Aslam was a dream come true; to evendream of playing beyond Dehra Dun was in therealm of fantasy.

I rmly believe, having now seen and played

cricket in Mumbai, that RP could have made itto somewhere near the top. He had the graceand style but, above all, he had a feeling forthe game. One of my favourite memories of him

was from a tournament in Mussoorie whichused to be held every year at the tiny ground ofthe Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Academy;

where future IAS ofcers would come to learnabout life and love. The tournament was heldevery year in memory of the father of Nand

Kishore Bamboo a six-a-side tournamentwhich was small-town Indian cricket at its best players of the caliber of young MohammadSaif and his brother Kaif (yes, the same) actually

came and played but, back to RP. I can seehim making a round of the eld, cigarette dan-gling from lip like a half-spoken wish, studyingthe eld, the pitch, and light and shadows likea shikari, preparing for the hunt.

I have seen Rahul Dravid do the same, Sachin-but especially Dravid minus the cigarette, ofcourse. This is cricket the mental preparation,to hone the mind to guide the body for in thesplit-second you are blessed with before the ballshatters your stumps, you must play your shotas naturally as you take a breath and with thesame ease. That is what makes a player great,

whether Dravid or RP or Sachin

Across India then and now there were onlya few Dravids or Sachins or Gavaskars or

Vishwanaths but there were hundreds, maybethousands, of RPs each circling the groundsof their town, their dreams; each knowing thatTest cricket was heaven, and almost all of us

would-be angels, but with wings either tooweak, or even if strong enough, not having thewind to carry us there

I salute RP and Aslam and Ajay and Davidthe angels of my time, my town

And I salute Dhoni, and all the small-townangels he has inspired and must go on inspir-ing


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Dhoni, grow your hair againbe yourself again

Tom Alter is supremely condent that India can

regain its numero uno position in Test cricket.

For that, he wants Dhoni to shed inhibitions

and lead by example.

Tom Alter, Aug 18, 2011

Dhoni, let your hair down. You have doneit all won world cups, been numberone, made your crores

Now, grow your hair again be yourself again be what you really want to be. Open the bat-

ting for India in the fourth Test come up theorder as you did during the World Cup nal andproved yourself.

Do it again, open with Mukund let Gambhir

and Sehwag watch. Attack the English, you canstill do it, we know you want to swivel andsmash the ball to the ne leg, club it over mid-off, launch it with a ourish over long-on, pullit beyond mid-wicket plunder; loft; launch;twirl; swirl; grow your hair again

You have played the game, been the serious cap-tain reined yourself in, done the ads, listenedto your managers and your agents, played thegame and won. Now, be yourself again be a

young man from Bihar again from Ranchi


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from before Jharkhand be yourself.

Open with Mukund then Dravid, and Sachin,and Laxman they will give you one more greatTest. Then, Kohli and Raina have faith inRaina have him bat at your number the ball

will be older and he will shine. Then, Ojha andKumar and Sharma and Patel. And watch RPin the nets if he is t, and bowling well, playhim instead of Sharma to surprise the English.

Attack them, they have the measure of Sharmanow, maybe, just maybe RP will surprise themand Ojha is the surprise package. Mishra wastoo timid, too few runs to play with we needsomething fresh and new and you and Muku-nd as the opening pair will be just that.

And get Fletcher to smile, at least once, it will

make a world of difference. We know you aremissing Kirsten, we all are he is the missinglink, but he is gone, so get Fletcher to smile, toloosen up, it will help the whole team.

Grow your hair again be yourself, twirl yourbat, smile, take off your shirt and twirl it too.Attack the bowling

And then, when youve scored a swashbuckling

87 and we have won the fourth Test and every-one is feeling better do something even moredaring

Refuse to play in the Champions Trophy, weknew you are bound by contract and crores,

but be brave open the batting, grow your hairagain do not play the Champions Trophy.

What an example you will set you may havecourt-cases to face as a result, but let peopleknow that you really feel about what is right and

what is wrong.

And before you do that, win the One-Day series attack we all still love you, the Dhoni of ourdreams, who created our dreams, who madethem come true number one Test team in the

world? You made us that, no one can take thataway from you.

You have made your mistakes; you know that inyour heart of hearts.

Now grow your hair again be yourself, twirl,swirl let the nation be proud of you again; let

yourself be proud of yourself again.

And instead of playing the Champions Trophy,take a little rest, let your hair grow, and thenplay Ranji Trophy, to get ready for the Aussies we can be number one again if you lead the

way.

You can do it, if you want to


31/40

Brand Dhoni has a life

after cricket


32/40

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has his eyes on much more

than the cricket ball. In his own way, he is redening

what it means to be a big sports star in India.

Dhananjay Khadilkar, Oct 12, 2012

Paris: MS Dhoni had a reason to bepleased this Sunday because of histeams performance not in cricket but

in the World Superbikes championship. Britishrider Dan Linfoot of the MSD R-N team nisheda remarkable 3rd in the Supersport categorygiving the team its rst podium nish in only itssixth race, at the Magny Cours circuit in France.

Speaking exclusively to Firstpost after the race,Arun Pandey, the teams Chariman & ManagingDirector, said that the team had never expectedto nish third in only their sixth race.

For us it was important that our riders endedthe season in the top 10. A podium result is anamazing achievement. In the last race, Dan hadnished seventh, now he has nished third. This

result is a big thing for Indian sports, he said.

With the advent of Formula One in India, mo-

torsport has witnessed a surge in popularity inIndia. Pandey, however, maintains that they arecurrently focused only on the Superbikes cat-egory.

For the time being, we are not focusing on anyother form of motorsport. India is the biggestmarket for two wheelers and we feel that super

bikes will be successful in India. Dhoni, himself,is fond of bikes, he said.

Pandey added that Superbikes will gain morepopularity in India from next year onwards asthe Buddh International Circuit at Noida will behosting a Superbikes round from 2013.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni andthe world he is creating


33/40

Dhonis team will help it become popular in In-dia. Thats why we are participating in Europe.The amount of appreciation we are getting frompeople and corporate houses in India is incredi-

ble. Super bikes will be one of the biggest sportsin India in the future. Almost everyone canrelate to this sport as most of us are passionateabout bikes. Since Superbikes will be coming toIndia from next year, it will get bigger in India.

And right now in India, no ones bigger thanDhoni. So what better way to promote a sport?

In a recent latest list of worlds 100 richestsportspersons, released by the Forbes magazine,Dhoni even pipped the likes of Usain Bolt, No-

vak Djokovic and teammate Sachin Tendulkar.

According to the list, Dhoni is ranked 31st,which is way ahead of Djokovic (62nd), Bolt(63rd) and Tendulkar (78th). Star footballers

Wayne Rooney and Fernando Torres are alsobehind Dhoni in the latest list.

Of his total earnings of 26.5 million, Dhoniearns 23m through endorsements even the

worlds most popular footballer Lionel Messiearns only $19 million through endorsements.

Pandeys vision, which generally is pretty simi-lar to Dhonis, however, extends beyond Su-perbikes. His rm, Rhiti Sports Managementcompany, recently created waves after signinga Rs 40 crore deal with badminton star SainaNehwal.

Our endeavour is to promote other sportsin India. I am trying to give something back

to sports personalities from India who haveachieved a lot in their lives. I realised thatsports other than cricket are not marketed very

well. What Saina has achieved, and that tooat such a young age, is truly remarkable. Shehas won medals at Olympics, CommonwealthGames and Asiad as well as other prestigious

badminton events, he said.

Sources have also revealed that Rhiti Sportsis planning to provide a platform for budding

youngsters to bring glory to the country at theOlympics very much like Olympic Gold Quest.

Not content with just cricket or other major

sports, Rhiti Sports is trying to develop othersports and do things at the grassroots level.Indian football is already in his sights as well.There have been some reports of Rhiti Sportstrying to work out a deal with the All-IndiaFootball Federation as well.

But Dhoni and Rhiti arent done by a long shot.

According to the Rhiti Sports website, Sportstby MSD is Indias Youngest and most AmbitiousFitness Brand. And the plans are ambitiousindeed. SportsFit World Pvt Ltd plans to openaround 200 tness centres using an investmentof around Rs 2,000 crore in the next ve years.The company will also set up shop overseas.Their idea is to change the way Indians look attness.

And then there is the MS Dhoni CharitableFoundation that endeavours to use the power ofsports and in particular, cricket, to bring togeth-er the best talent available in the country andhelp them develop their skills to maybe one daylive their dream of playing for the nation.

The foundation organises cricket tournamentsacross 11 cities around India, thereby giving an

opportunity to the local raw talent to showcasetheir abilities.

When asked as to how is it to be managingDhoni, Indias biggest sports star, Pandey saidthat despite being the most sought after brandambassador, Dhoni is very humble.

It becomes very easy for me to take any deci-sion, whether the project is big or small. He en-

thusiastically supports initiatives for promotingother sports as well. I consider myself lucky andprivileged to be managing MS Dhoni, he said.

In his own way, he is redening what it meansto be a big sports star in India. He is doingthings that few other cricketers have attemptedand that also means that the demands on histime are great. Dhoni has always said that he issomeone who likes to live in the present but thisis clearly a case of planning for the future.

Perhaps he should do the same for his cricketcareer as well.


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For Dhoni, if its not aboutcricket,its about bikes

MS Dhoni at the rechristening of his Superbike team MSD R-N. The team will now be called MahiRacing Team India. Sachin Gokhale/Firstpost

Despite its entry midway into the season, the team put up a strong performance, peaking at thenal race at Magny Cours, France with its rider Dan Linfoot pulling off a podium nish. SachinGokhale/Firstpost


35/40

Dhoni also said that his team is now in a position to set up a couple of riding schools in India.Sachin Gokhale/Firstpost

Mahendra singh Dhoni with wife Sakshi and Nagarjuna with wife Amla. Dhoni said owning theteam was a dream come true for him as the project is quite close to his heart. Sachin Gokhale/Firstpost


36/40

Dhoni to launch hispersonal line of fragrances

The Indian captain will be personally involved in

the creation, formulation and development of theM S Dhoni line of fragrances, which caters

exclusively to men.

PTI, Aug 17, 2012

Kolkata: The essence of being MahendraSingh Dhoni is set to cross the bounda-ries of cricket as the India team captain

today became the rst Indian cricketer to an-

nounce his own signature brand of internationalperfumes.

The development of the new line builds onmy own preferences for fragrances that remainfresh and have aninternational appeal, Dhoni said in a statementissued here today.

I am condent that the range will appeal to

those who seek fragrances that are long-lastingand refreshing, he added.

The Indian captain will be personally involvedin the creation, formulation and development ofthe M S Dhoni line of fragrances, which catersexclusively to men. The launch makes Dhoni therst-ever Indian cricketer to have his own lineof fragrances and is expected to be introducedin India, the UAE and the rest of the world be-fore the end of the year.

Beauty Contact is acknowledged as the namebehind the success of top celebrity fragrance

brands in over 20 countries, including thoseof Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, Perry Ellis,Maria Sharapova, Alfred Sung, Hummer andBob Mackie.

The rst line of fragrances will hit the Indianmarket around the time of the Twenty20 WorldCup, slated to start in mid-September this yearin Sri Lanka.

The UAE debut is expected towards the end of

the year.


37/40

Dhoni to venture intofitness biz, will set up 200 gyms

Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is ven-

turing into the business of tness through a companyco-founded along with his business manager

Arun Pandey that plans to invest around

Rs 2,000 crore in the next ve years.

PTI, Apr 17, 2012

N

ew Delhi: Indian cricket captain Ma-hendra Singh Dhoni is venturing into

the business of tness through a com-pany co-founded along with his business man-ager Arun Pandey that plans to invest aroundRs 2,000 crore in the next ve years.

The new rm, SportsFit World Pvt Ltd plansto open around 200 tness centres under theSportsFit brand not only in India but also over-

seas, including Australia, Middle East, Singa-pore and the UK.

The rst four gyms will be launched in May.The plan is to set up a big chain of such tnesscentres across India and international desti-nations where Dhoni has huge fan following,Rhiti Sports Management Promoter Arun Pan-dey said.

The company is currently exploring geographieslike Australia, Middle East, Singapore and theUK.

Rhiti Sports currently manages Dhonis brand

endorsement deals.

On the planned investment for the venture,Pandey said it is up to Rs 2,000 crore andalready a few overseas investors have alreadypicked minority stake in SportsFit World. Themajority equity is held by Pandey and Dhonitogether.

We have strong backing from several banks,who are ready to fund the project. Apart fromthat, a lot of other investors are showing keeninterest in the venture, he added.

The rst four gyms under SportsFit brand willopen in Gurgaon, Delhi, Chandigarh and Fari-dabad.

To begin with, the tness clubs will be operatedby SportsFit World, but going ahead we mightconsider franchise options, he said.

Commenting on the marketing plans for the

new venture he said: Dhoni will be the face ofthe brand and an aggressive marketing cam-paign has been prepared to support the plan.

When asked about international launch Pandeysaid: We will make announcement related toglobal foray at the time of launch of the rstfour gyms next month.

Dhoni is currently the face of around 25 brands

and charges around Rs 5 crore per endorse-ment, according to industry estimates.

The brands endorsed by the Indian cricket cap-tain include Reebok, Aircel and Godrej.


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Drogba doesnt know Sachinbut hes heard of Dhoni

Drogba is in India for a promotional visit and he

also said that he feels it is the right time to

move on from Chelsea.

Arlene Chang, Jun 17, 2012

New Delhi: Chelseas star forward, Di-dier Drogba, who played a key role inthe football clubs Champions League

win last month was in New Delhi today. On hismaiden visit to India, the Ivory Coast strikerand brand ambassador of Pepsi came to gracethe companys T20 Football grand nale at Thy-agaraj Stadium in Delhi, where he also spoke

about Chealseas Champions league win, cricketand his favourite footballer.

On the recent Champions League winThe last moments when we were in the penal-

ties was like a dream. The whole scenario waslike a Hitchcock movie. I was initially sad, nerv-ous and then very happy when we went from thepenalty kick to the goal. There were many manymixed emotions. We had been trying to win theChampions League for eight years now and Im

very happy we could do it this year.

On playing for Chealsea FCIt was something I dreamed of since I was a kidand when I got a chance to play with Chelsea, it

was a dream come true. Eight years with Chel-sea were the best years of my life and career.


39/40

Its difcult, very difcult for me to move onmy heart is blue. But it is the right time to leaveand the next step will be interesting. I took thedecision to leave the club after the ChampionsLeague win. Im just very happy that we havemade Chelsea a club known around the world,Drogba says.

On CricketDidnt follow cricket before, but I followed the

World Cup and I know that India won it, hesays.

And what does he now understand about thegame, you ask. He says, It took me very long tounderstand the game. It is too long, played overmany days, but I know India are the championsin it and people in India are crazy about it. So Irespect them.

Sachin Tendulkar, who?When asked whether he followed cricket andwho he knows from the Indian cricket team,Drogba said, I dont know the names of Indianplayers.

On further being prompted about captainMahendra Singh Dhoni or perhaps SachinTendulkar, Drogba said, I know your captainthough I cannot pronounce his name. I followedthe last Cricket World Cup. The Indian team

were the world champions. I think he (Dhoni) isa very good leader. I know of the captain be-cause I followed the last cricket World Cupsaid Drogba (completely ignoring the mentionof Sachin Tendulkar).

On the T20 format of footballThis format will change the game. I knowthat cricket is the number 1 game in India, butfootball is number 1 in Africa and Europe. I lovecricket but football is going to give cricket inIndia very good competition with this format.

On his favourite footballer and opponentIts amazing how football is one of the mostpopular sports of the world and if you askedme to pick the best contemporary player I haveplayed against it will be Lionel Messi.


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