M S Dhoni has come a long way in a short time, and now belies his humble beginnings from small-town Indian hinterland. His phenomenal rise to success as Indian skipper in all forms of international cricket has earned him the respect of his seniors and admiration of his juniors to say nothing of adulation and adoration of an entire cricket crazy country. There are ex-cricketers, present cricketers and future cricketers who are all self confessed fans. Under his captaincy, India has won 31 of 50 ODIs played, 6 out of 12 T20 matches played and have not lost a single test under his captaincy (5 wins out of 7 played; two tests drawn).

It was Dilip Vengsarkar, who as chairman of the selection committee was responsible for Dhoni’s appointment as captain. "He is a very impressive captain who knows how to get the best out of his team," he was quoted as having said in the cricket news. Dhoni also has the admiration of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who said, “I am extremely happy and delighted at the way he has conducted himself. He is a balanced guy and is always on his toes all the time. Before he was made the captain, standing in the slips I interacted with him, and he picked up a lot of things which clearly indicated that he has a sharp brain. His approach is pretty clear and not complicated," said Sachin.

As defending champions, Dhoni is aware that there are no favourites to win the title of world champs. "It will be silly to name favourites in a 40-over game, things can change so quickly," he said. "It all depends on how one plays on a particular day.” And he is hopeful that he and his team will be able to be consistent and play to potential.

Dhoni and his men arrived in England ahead of the start of the T20 World Cup and headed for practice session the day after. Prior to their first T20 match against Bangladesh, practice matches have been scheduled for the men in blue, to familiarise themselves with the conditions. On 1 June India meets New Zealand Lords. On 3rd June India take on Pakistan in their second warm up match. ESPN-STAR Sports will showcase live the warm-up matches in the ICC World T20 in England under the banner ‘Launch Pad’. The programme will centre on the preliminary stage of the tournament.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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