MS Dhoni's birthday: 5 unknown things his biopic tells us

From being a ticket collector to becoming the most successful captain of Team India, MS Dhoni's illustrious career is nothing short of a thrilling movie. Director Neeraj Pandey did an excellent job of capturing the true essence of cricketer Dhoni rather than dwelling on his glamorous life.

MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, which portrays Dhoni's journey, connects with the fans at many levels. The biopic brilliantly narrates his family background, their aspirations and expectations, Dhoni's childhood and adolescence years.

While Dhoni's life is like an open book to his fans and followers, the cinema revealed a few unknown things about the cricketer.

On the occasion of Dhoni's 40th birthday, let's revisit five things which the biopic reveals about the former India skipper.

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#5 Helicopter shot was not created by MS Dhoni

His first ever helicopter shot in Int'l cricket. Just see the power in this shot 🔥. @msdhoni pic.twitter.com/kU0vYJbiZS

— Abhijeet (@KING__Ro45) July 3, 2021

MS Dhoni introduced a new shot to the cricket manual. The "helicopter shot" gained a lot of popularity after Dhoni fetched a lot of runs playing the unusual and extraordinary shot. It was later replicated by many cricketers, the latest being Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan.

However, the biopic revealed that it was not Dhoni who invented the shot. Instead, it was his gully friend Santosh who taught him how to play the "helicopter shot".

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#4 Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni went up against each other before being teammates

MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh shared a great bond during their time with Team India. But not many know that Dhoni and Yuvraj knew each other even before they made their international debuts.

The two illustrious cricketers went up against each other in a zonal match. Yuvraj showed his skills to win the game and eventually earned a maiden national call-up.

Later on, Dhoni also made his international debut and went on to become one of the country's greatest cricketers.

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#3 MS Dhoni was responsible for Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid's ouster from the Indian team

MS Dhoni has earned several accolades throughout his career. But he has received equal hate for being the mastermind behind ending the ODI careers of Indian legends Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.

While Dhoni has never admitted this, his biopic confirmed that the wicketkeeper-batsman was largely responsible for the ouster of Ganguly and Dravid from India's ODI set-up. Dhoni, who was then the Indian skipper, was reportedly not happy with the fitness standards of the two cricketers. He wanted to get rid of the duo in order to build a young team who were proactive on the field.

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#2 MS Dhoni was never fond of cricket

MS Dhoni's love for football is nothing new. He has been spotted on numerous occasions taking part in charity football matches. But how many of you know that a young Dhoni was more keen on playing football than cricket?

A clip from the biopic narrates an incident when a young Dhoni is against the idea of playing cricket. Speaking to his school's sports teacher, Dhoni said:

"Chhote ball se kaun khelega? (Who will play with small balls?)".

He was even the goalkeeper of his school's football team and it was the goalkeeping techniques that got him a chance to play for the cricket team as a wicket-keeper. The rest is history as he went on to become one of the most crafted cricketers to play the game.

MS Dhoni also went on to own a football club, Chennaiyan FC, who play in the Indian Super League (ISL).

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#1 MS Dhoni liked not being recognized

While there have been rumors that MS Dhoni dated a couple of women before his marriage, the biopic confirmed that there was only one woman in his life before Sakshi Dhoni. And neither of the ladies recognized that he was a member of the Indian cricket team.

Priyanka and Dhoni met on a plane where she failed to identify the true identity of the cricketer. Years later, he met Sakshi at the Taj Bengal Hotel in Kolkata where she was working at the reception.

Sakshi also didn't realize who she was interrogating and even went to Dhoni's room to get proof of his identity. Impressed by her honesty, MS Dhoni took her autograph. Years later, they married each other and currently live in Ranchi.