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The number one batsman in the ICC ODI rankings, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been demolishing bowling attacks but there is one more place we see a lot of him — in his endorsements. Dhoni's on-field exploits have made him one of the most sought after men for advertisers. His tie-ups with top brands have become as common as his match winning performances. In just one cricketing year Dhoni is second only to skipper Rahul Dravid and maestro Sachin Tendulkar with 14 brands under his belt including, Pepsi, Reebok, Videocon, BPCL, Reliance and many more. Pepsi and Reebok are the only two brands to have had the foresight to catch Dhoni before his rise to fame.

His latest endorsement is a hair styling product and it was obvious that Dhoni is as comfortable in front of the camera as he is on the field. For the product, it was crucial to have Dhoni as their brand ambassador. Team India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s dream run with the bat has seen brand managers literally running after him. The latest to join the Dhoni ‘brand wagon’ is the Chennai-based Sara Lee Household and Body Care, the Indian arm of $18bn Sara Lee. The company hopes to add shine to its brands such as Brylcreem and Kiwi. Right from Farokh Engineer to Dhoni, Brylcreem has had the heritage of endorsements by eminent cricketers, says Sara Lee India managing director's Suresh.

"Dhoni fits in beautifully with Brylcreem and yes we did want him and we have got him. I could not get a better fit than Dhoni," said Shiv Saigal, Vice President (Marketing), and Sara Lee Household & Body Care. "It works at different levels. At one level of course the entire nation is entirely crazy about his hair and Brylcreem is a hair styling product. But at a more strategic level Brylcreem is all about cool confidence and Dhoni personifies that," he added. Every product will claim that their brand ambassador portrays everything that their product is, but in this case signing Dhoni was a fairly big coup on the part of the company.

The male hair product industry is booming and when it comes to hair it has to be Dhoni. For this ad the hairstyle was changed a bit but the stylists decided to keep the changes to the bare minimum so that his natural confident personality comes across to the viewer. "I kept it very simple, very young, very trendy which is what he is. He is a really young talented cricketer. You don't need to over style him. I think it needs to be kept simple like we have for this ad," said Aparna Chandra, fashion designer.

Perhaps no endorsement is more apt than this one for Dhoni, the man whose hairstyles are talked about as much as the boundaries and sixes that he hits. After all it was Pakistan President Pervez Musharaf who told him not to change his hairstyle.

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While the exclusion of Mahendra Singh Dhoni from the list of nominations for the ICC's 'ODI Player of the Year' award is generating a lot of heat, the man himself has taken things in his stride. "I am not overly concerned or disappointed," Dhoni told TOI. "I am not losing any sleep over the issue. In fact, as I see it, right now we have a crucial phase coming up, one where every single member of the team is focused on doing well.

But India's one-day wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni hopes to receive one of ICC's annual awards in the near future. Dhoni, attending a function here to announce the list of nominees for the International Cricket Council's annual awards for 2005, said, "I am doing well, but can do better and hopefully get one of these awards one day." The wicketkeeper-batsman, who impressed with the bat during the recent triangular series in Zimbabwe, said he wanted to win the man of the series award in one of the future tournaments he plays in.

I don't want to change my batting style," he said.

Dhoni said he got valuable tips on wicketkeeping from Indian team's biomechanics expert Ian Frazer during his stay with the team in Zimbabwe.

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Dashing Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni recently played a game of football in Jharkhand, except this time he ended up on the losing side. It’s a different ball game, but it’s his first love. Jharkhand’s poster boy and India’s star wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni takes off his gloves and puts on his football shoes whenever he gets the time. So the cricket icon was in the Silly football ground in Jharkhand to promote football. It was ironic, but it was effective.

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Field umpires Asad Rauf and Simon Taufel referred the decision to the third umpire. But TV replays were inconclusive and third umpire Billy Doctrove took 10 minutes, without coming to any conclusion. Dhoni later revealed host captain Brian Lara convinced him to walk off. "Lara came up to me and told me that he was in charge of his players, and that he had full faith that Ganga was speaking the truth. He said I should walk off and I agreed.

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Ranking :

• On the 19th of April 2006, moves to the top at no. 1 position on LG's ICC ODI player rankings
• Ranked at no. 2 position on LG's ICC ODI player rankings on the 16th of April 2006

Records :

• Holds the record for highest runs scored by a wicketkeeper, i.e. 183 not out
• His innings of 183 not out is the highest score made by anyone in the second innings of an ODI. The former record was held by Brian Lara for scoring 153 against Pakistan
• Made a record of scoring 120 runs in an ODI from boundaries and sixes(15 boundaries and 10 sixes)
• Is the only second Indian to reach 1st position on LG's ICC ODI batting rankings
• Became the first Indian to hit 10 sixes in an ODI

Awards

• On the 13th of February 2006, became the man of the match against Pakistan at Gadaffi Stadium for an unbeaten 72 runs
• Receives his first man of the match award against Pakistan at AC-VDCA Stadium for scoring 148 runs on the 5th of April 2005
• Made man of the match against Sri Lanka on the 31st of October 2005 for scoring his highest ever unbeaten 183 runs at Sawai Mansingh Stadium

Other Achievements

• Won the Pepsi & MTV Youth Icon of the year 2006
• Nominated for NDTV Youth Icon of the year 2006

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Personal information:

Full name: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Nickname: Mahi
Place of Birth: Ranchi, Bihar
D.O.B: 7th July, 1981


Personal profile:

Dhoni was born and brought up in the city of Ranchi. He has two siblings. Sister, who got married. Brother who lives in Almora. Almora is a high-lying town at the foot of the Himalaya which is his father's home town. His father's name is Pan Singh and mother's name is Devki Devi.

His hobbies and interests include:

Hearing music ghazals and songs by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar

Loves to ride bikes

Enjoys playing computer games and badminton

Not interested in:

English songs

Working out at gyms

Special qualities:

Thinks positive

Highly confident about himself

Is aggressive on the field

His Idol:

Adam Gilchrist

Cricketing information:

Batting style: Right hand batsman

Bowling style: Right arm medium

Field position: Wicketkeeper

Clubs played: Jharkhand

Cricketing profile:

Before he started playing cricket, he was a football goalkeeper. It’s said he drinks around four litres of milk everyday but he denied it by saying that has been exaggerated a bit. He said he loves milk and drinks around a liter on a daily basis. Mahendra Singh Dhoni started his first class career in the year 1999-2000. His one day international debut came after playing five years of first class cricket on the 23rd of December 2004 against Bangladesh. The venue of the match was in Chittagong, Bangladesh. Unfortunately, he was run out on the first ball he faced. Luck wasn’t on his side in the first four matches he played. Where as on the fifth match which was played against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam, Dhoni came to the crease one down and managed to score 148 runs from just 123 balls. He hit 15 boundaries and four sixes. He got his first man of the match award that day. Not only a good wicketkeeper but Dhoni proved himself to be a first class batsman too. He is one of the few finest wicketkeeper batsmen India has seen after a very long time. On the 2nd of December 2005, Dhoni made his Test cricket debut against Srilanka which was played in Chennai, India. On the 31st of October, Dhoni broke the record of highest runs scored by a wicket keeper by securing 183 runs against Srilanka which was played at Jaipur. Adam Gilchrist was the former record holder with 172 runs.

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