Deepak Sharma is perhaps the luckiest, if not most popular lookalike in the country. The Haryanvi talks, walks and rocks like cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and helping him in his endeavour are a neighbourhood sports shop owner, media persons, and Dhoni himself

Intelligent imposters can manage to copy just about everything. But how do you explain failing in an examination the same year, in the same subject, without knowing what fate would descend on the other? Call it coincidence, but Deepak Sharma, who turned 24 a few days ago, always saw it as a sign. A sports marketing agent from Yamuna Nagar, a small town in Haryana, he decided that he'd make not a living out of his resemblance with Ranchi's cricketing rockstar, but a life.

"When I saw him for the first time, he seemed the chosen one. I always knew I wasn't just another fan."

Today, Deepak and Dhoni meet up often, share tips and turf talk, and Deepak comes home a happy man.

Except, of course, he misses his own identity.u00a0

We are same-same but different: Cricket star Mahendra Singh Dhoni with lookalike Deepak Sharma

Why did you want to be Dhoni?
It was in 2002 that a newspaper in Rae Bareilly published Dhoni's picture, and I saw a striking similarity between us. Just a few days before this, my doctor had told me that I should quit sports (I was a football and cricket freak) due to a leg injury. I saw it as a sign and started grooming myself like him. My Dhoni journey began in 2004.

How do you manage to be like him?
It takes a lot of effort, especially affording stuff that's essential to his style. But there's a sports store by the corner in my colony, and the shopkeeper stocks all that Dhoni wears, on request, at a special discount for me. His pictures, posters and reports help me keep up-to-date with how he looks and behaves. Of course, the Internet helps too. Television coverage helps me walk the walk and talk the talk.