M S DHONI (Childhood & Early Life)

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was born on July 7, 1981, in Ranchi, Bihar (now in Jharkhand), into a Rajput family originally from Uttarakhand. His father, Pan Singh, is retired employee of MECON (a Public Sector Undertaking under the Ministry of Steel), where he worked in junior management positions. His mother Devaki Devi is a housewife. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has one elder brother, Narendra Singh Dhoni, and one elder sister, Jayanti Gupta. His brother is a politician, while his sister is an English teacher. He attended D.A.V Jawahar Vidya Mandir located at Shyamali in Ranchi, Jharkhand.

He was an athletic student, but was more interested in badminton and football initially. He was the goalkeeper of his school football team.It was by sheer chance that his football coach once sent him to fill in as the wicketkeeper of the cricket team of a local club. He charmed everyone with his performance and secured a permanent spot as the regular wicketkeeper in the Commando cricket club team for three years during 1995-98. He continued to perform well and was selected for Vinoo Mankad Trophy Under-16 Championship team during the 1997-98 season. He started to take cricket seriously only after completing 10th standard.