Now, ahead of the Champions Trophy that opens in England and Wales this week, Dhoni has been burdened with another task -- defending the alleged sins of his pay-masters. Indian cricket was thrown into chaos last month when three players, including recent Test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, were arrested for alleged spot-fixing during the glitzy Indian Premier League. Further trouble mounted Sunday for the country&#39;s powerful cricket chief, Narayanswamy Srinivasan, who stepped aside from his post while a police investigation over his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan&#39;s links to illegal bookmakers remained ongoing. Meiyappan was accredited as &#39;team owner&#39; of the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, owned by Srinivasan&#39;s business venture India Cements, leading to a revolt in the Indian board against their boss. Dhoni shares a special bond with Srinivasan, not only as captain of India and the Chennai Super Kings, but also as a vice-president of India Cements, an appointment made earlier this year. <img alt="MS Dhoni" src="http://images.mid-day.com/2013/jun/dhoni3june.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 377px;" /> MS Dhoni. Pic/ AFP As he plots India&#39;s strategy ahead of their Champions Trophy opener against South Africa in Cardiff on Thursday, Dhoni has also been busy fending off questions about the scandal back home. The unruffled 31-year-old has done a good job of keeping cool till now, but it remains to be seen how long he can maintain his composure. &quot;When the right time comes, I will answer it,&quot; Dhoni said when bombarded with IPL-related queries at his opening media conference in England last week. &quot;As of now, I want to keep our side away from everything.&quot; Sourav Ganguly, who took over as India&#39;s captain soon after the match-fixing episode in 2000 that led to the downfall of Mohammad Azharuddin and the late South Africa captain Hansie Cronje, sympathised with Dhoni. &quot;Dhoni is in a tough position at the moment,&quot; Ganguly was quoted as saying in the Indian media. &quot;I can sympathize with him as everyone wants an explanation from him. &quot;But it is not his fault that he was picked up by Chennai Super Kings. It is not his fault that Gurunath (Meiyappan) is involved in betting.&quot; Dhoni will know that he and his team can restore Indian cricket&#39;s damaged reputation by doing well on the field, starting with the eight-nation Champions Trophy. And he has the credentials to undertake a revival. Last year, an extraordinary career that began as a railway ticket inspector in his home state of Jharkhand, saw Dhoni hailed by Forbes magazine as the world&#39;s richest cricketer with annual earnings of $26.5 million. Taking over as captain in 2007 when senior players declined to take part in the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa, Dhoni engineered one of India&#39;s most remarkable runs in the sport. Under him, India won the World Twenty20 in 2007, rose to number one in the Test rankings in 2009 and lifted the 50-over World Cup in 2011, with Dhoni hitting he winning six against Sri Lanka in the Mumbai final. But two humiliating 4-0 Test whitewashes in England and Australia, followed by a rare home series defeat against England last year, led to calls for Dhoni&#39;s removal from the side altogether. Dhoni not only retained the captaincy -- only due to Srinivasan&#39;s intervention -- but also hit back by leading India in a 4-0 rout of Australia in a Test series at home earlier this year. He will now have to show similar dexterity to pull Indian cricket out of a hole again.

A wicket-keeper, aggressive batsman and India's captain in Test, one-day and Twenty20 cricket, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a master at juggling various jobs at the same time

CT: Testing times ahead for India's Dhoni

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CT: Testing times ahead for India's Dhoni

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