Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Full name Mahendra Singh Dhoni 
Born July 7, 1981, Ranchi, Bihar 
Current age 24 years 100 days 
Major teams India, Jharkhand 
Also known as Mahi 
Batting style Right-hand bat 
Fielding position Wicketkeeper

The spectacular arrival of Virender Sehwag was bound to inspire others to bat with the same mindset. But the odds of a clone emerging from the backwaters of Jharkhand, whose state side has consistently scraped the bottom, was highly remote. That was until Mahendra Singh Dhoni arrived. He can be swashbuckling with the bat and secure with the wicketkeeping gloves. His neck-length hair adds to his dash. Though Dhoni made his first-class debut in the 1999-2000 season, it was only in 2004 that he became a serious contender for national selection with some stirring performances when the occasion demanded - a rapid hundred which helped East Zone clinch the Deodhar Trophy and an audacious 60 in the Duleep Trophy final. But it was with his two centuries against Pakistan A, in the triangular tournament in Kenya, that he established himself as a clinical destroyer of bowling attacks. In just his fifth one-dayer, against Pakistan at Vishakapatnam, he cracked a dazzling 148 and for a while even put Sehwag in the shade

Dhoni on top of the world 
London, April 20 
Swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni today became the world’s top batsman in one-day rankings with a phenomenal average of 52.76 and an awesome strike-rate of 103.Dhoni, who was placed second behind Ricky Ponting before the two-match one-day series against Pakistan, displaced the Australian captain from the top spot after his fine knock of 59 in the second match in Abu Dhabi.The 24-year-old Jharkhand player, who made his ODI debut in December, 2004, has made a remarkably rapid rise with his statistics providing compelling support for his position on top of the ODI charts released by the ICC today. 
Since making his debut, Dhoni has played in 42 matches and has scored two hundreds and eight fifties. 
Dhoni is one of three India batsmen in the top 10 places with captain Rahul Dravid ninth (up two places) and Yuvraj Singh (10th) also featuring