It’s not just about the small town origins. India’s World Cup winning captain also inspired the batting mentality of batsmen around the country.
Lucknow Super Giants’ batter Mukul Choudhary told JioHotstar that his admiration for Dhoni went far back. “I always look up to MS Dhoni because I am also a finisher. I always look up to him. His helicopter shot, which is very iconic, is my favorite. The way he led India in the 2011 World Cup, everybody remembers it. I want to be like him and finish off matches and help my team win,” the batter known for his composed non-chalance similar to the former India captain, said.
While his family’s finances did not allow him to start out in cricket right away, but his father was determined to make him a cricketer. “It was my father’s dream to play cricket at a big level, we come from a very poor family and he wanted someone from the family to play cricket. Nowadays, there is a lot of money and fame in cricket. Cricket is his favorite sport, but our family condition did not allow him to play cricket professionally. He had already made up his mind, even before he was married, that when he has a son, he has to make him play cricket,” he recalled.
His father sacrificed his dreams of Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) and did some property work, before enrolling him in the SBS Cricket Academy in Sikar city for the first time.
“I member in 2015, It was my birthday that day and my father and I left in the morning to search for an academy. There were three districts nearby – Churu, Jhunjhunu and Sikar. We were looking for an academy in those three districts. At that time, SBS Cricket Academy in Sikar had just opened up. We saw it there and decided to take admission in that academy. It was a new academy and the people running the academy were very fond and passionate about cricket. So we found the right place to begin my cricket journey,” he recalled to JioHotstar.
Not only has he modelled his mind on Dhoni, others see a resemblance too. Faf du Plessis told JioHotstar, “It’s incredible to see the awareness to take the game through. The power from the young man, unbelievable batting. What a game of cricket, with lots of ebbs and flows, and stealing it towards the end. Some of the shots reminded me of watching MS Dhoni back in the day, especially those flick shots, so much power.”
