The real men behind Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's success story -- from his first coach to his closest friends -- speak about the legend
MS Dhoni during a training session. Pic/AFP
Renowned English writer Sir Neville Cardus once said, "A true batsman should in most of his strokes tell the truth about himself." Most cricketers would prefer to spot their silhouette in this reference, but the gutsy characters — chasing runs like a bull and selecting shots wisely — fit the bill perfectly.
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India limited-overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one such temperament; right from his school days, he read match situations better than many and finished it off effortlessly. MS Dhoni: The Untold Story is a diary tracing the voyage of a Train Ticket Examiner (in Kharagpur) to a two-time World Cup winner. The film's trailer begins with a montage of his deepest thoughts, early in his career — playing a match-winning knock in an inter-school final for DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir against Kendriya Vidyalaya to choosing a cricket career, shunning a job in the railway.
Dhoni with Chittu (left) and Paramjit
No 3 to opener
"You may have seen a glimpse in the trailer where he comes up to me and says that he wants to open the batting. That knock in the final changed his life," says Keshav Ranjan Banerjee, Dhoni's first coach who promoted the cricketer up the order.
"It was in 1997 when Mahi (fondly called) was in Class X and Shabir Hussain, the opening batsman for our school, was in XII. Shabir and Sanjeev Kumar were the regular openers. Mahi was supposed to come in at No.3 but he suddenly, said 'Sir, hum opening mein jayenge'. He was a hard hitter and I wanted to preserve him for the middle-order but he wouldn't listen. So, I thought of a trick, I told him that if he opens the batting, I will not let anybody else pad up; he needs to finish the match," recalls Banerjee.
Dhoni with Banerjee and his wife
"Since cricket is a game of uncertainty, I asked one player to remain padded but he never got to bat. Mahi finished the game smashing an unbeaten 213 off 150 balls. He shared a 378-run stand with Shabir who finished at 117 not out," adds Banerjee, who spotted Dhoni as a custodian in a football match and turned him into a stumper.
"All the incidents in the film are real. He used to leave the classroom in between an exam for cricket training," says the coach, who revealed that Dhoni also played badminton for his school. "He represented Jharkhand and reached the quarterfinal," he recalls. Banerjee believes this is the ideal time for a biopic since his bat still does the talking. "Nobody asks about a setting sun, hence, this is the right hour."
Sushant Singh Rajput during the shoot
Bikes and broken windowpanes
Banerjee's son, Swarnava, remembers his Mahi bhaiyya (brother). "I was a naughty kid, so my father used to ask him to take me to the ground and help lay the mats. I used to hop on to his bike; he had a Yamaha bike. He had broken most of the windowpanes of a house adjacent to the practice ground. My father used to be called often for justification," says Swarnava. Despite the fame, Dhoni still carries the same warmth in Ranchi.
"Once in a match, his hook shot hit my head. After many years, when he visited my father, he remembered the incident and realised I have grown up. When he came for my parents' anniversary recently, he enquired about my career and asked me if I had a girlfriend," he laughs.
Dhoni with his school vice-principal S Roy (extreme left) and a few juniors
Bat sponsor, friends for life
Seemant Lohani aka Chittu, and Paramjit Singh are Captain Cool's closest friends. They even appeared in a commercial recently, celebrating their friendship. Both friends are hopeful that the film is going to break all records. They helped Dilip Jha and Neeraj Pandey write the film. Chittu considers the ICC World Twenty20-inning moment in 2007 as the best memory of his friend's exploits. "When he came home after the win, it meant a lot. He never had any excitement. You all know how he is, he has never been expressive," says Chittu, who receives phone calls from Dhoni after his special knocks.
Paramjit owns a sports shop in Ranchi and helped Dhoni bag his first sponsor. He recalled how he convinced the owners of BAS for the deal. "I told them I have a player who needed help. I knew they helped cricketers from modest backgrounds. I shared his name; he wasn't ready to listen to me and kept delaying the kit," says Paramjit.
Those days, Dhoni awaited a berth in Bihar's (later, Jharkhand) Ranji Trophy team and a sponsored bat could have upped his ante. He got the bat only after being selected. Paramjit would pick up and drop Dhoni home those days. But today, he can't call him to his shop. "He will be mobbed," he adds.
DAV Jawahar Vidya Mandir is likely to stay shut on September 30 (release day) as kids will be taken for shows. Banerjee, still associated with the school, confirms that they spoke to a local movie theatre about booking the auditoriums.
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