A certain Mahendra Singh Dhoni graduated long time ago, but is still a popular inspirational figure for children at the Jawahar Vidya Mandir (previously DAV JVM), the school which gave India their most successful captain.
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Two class 10th students, Ram Roshan Sharan and Harsh Pradhan are among the rising teenagers from the school in Ranchi, who were discovered by India’s most decorated skipper.
Once the classes of these two students are over, they are trained daily on the ground for 3 to 4 hours by Keshav Ranjan Banerjee, who was MS Dhoni’s first coach and the mentor who discovered and polished one of the world’s greatest skipper.
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“Earlier I used to get players from higher classes only but now they are learning from class 6 onwards. I have a bigger pool of players to choose,” Banerjee spoke to PTI Bhasha.
“I met Mahi one and a half year ago at JSCA indoor stadium. He told me only one thing that ‘keep working hard and your dreams will be fulfilled’. It has become my guru mantra for life,” revealed Ram Roshan, who is a wicket-keeper batter just like his inspiration.
A look at the World Cup trophy presented in his school and the match-winning innings in the final under pressure by MS Dhoni inspired Harsh Pradhan, a 10th grade student, to pursue his career as a cricketer.
“The World Cup 2011 trophy came to our school and I felt pride when I saw that. I was in awe of Mahi’s performance in the final and I decided that I will also emulate him,” Harsh claimed.
Another student, Kumar Shivam, a 12th class student from the school, is an all-rounder and already has a lot of individual honors to his name in inter-school competitions. He has watched MS Dhoni’s biopic – ‘MS Dhoni – An Untold Story’ – a lot of times to remind himself to stay focussed on his goals just like his idol.
“Earlier the boys from small towns used to feel shy but post MSD’s success, they are not scared of any challenge. He was also from a humble background and small city but has written new definition of success. He taught us that there is no substitute of hard work,” Shivam said.
The immense success of MS Dhoni has not just inspired thousands of students, but it has also added extra responsibility on the shoulders of coach Banerjee, as every parent wants their child to be the next MS Dhoni.
“Players like Dhoni are rare. I cannot produce another Dhoni. These kids are very talented but most of the parents now want their wards to be next Dhoni. I don’t have any magic wand,” Banerjee insisted.
“But kids work very hard taking inspiration from Dhoni and I am sure they will be successful and make me feel proud,” he concluded.
