After one Olympics, if we invest in sports and say we will get a gold medal in the next Olympic, it doesn't work like that in sports. How it works is that you provide the infrastructure, provide education about nutrition and health.Collection: Education
The biggest learning during my tenure as a captain was that, a lot of time, I used to think that this is common sense. But no, there is nothing called common sense.Collection: Learning
Self-confidence has always been one of my good qualities. I am always very confident. It is in my nature to be confident, to be aggressive. And it applies in my batting as well as wicketkeeping.Collection: Nature
I live for the moment - not the future, not the past.Collection: Future
What we have seen is that sports is definitely developing in India. I can see a lot of positive things happening in India. It may take a bit more time, but with proper guidance and people having passion for sports, I don't think we are far away from becoming a good sporting nation.Collection: Positive
Getting up quite late in the morning, going and trying to clean my bikes - I have quite a few of them in Ranchi - spending some time with my family, my parents and friends. Going out for rides with my friends and having lunch or dinner at a roadside hotel - that's my favourite time-pass. These are the sort of things that really excite me.Collection: Morning
I have three dogs at home. Even after losing a series or winning a series, they treat me the same way.Collection: Home
Winning the World Cup was very special because it meant so much to so many. One thing about our country that is constant is cricket. The smile it brought to people's faces was the thing I shall always remember. It reminded me, reminded all of us, of our importance to the lives of the Indian people less lucky than we are.Collection: Smile
I live in the present with an eye on the future.Collection: Future
What is important is to have a positive intent right from the start, and positive intent doesn't always mean looking for the big shots. Positive intention when it comes to defending a ball or looking for a single.Collection: Positive
During a packed season, maintaining fitness becomes tough because you can't put too much effort into it. You're constantly monitoring workloads.Collection: Fitness
Cricket is not everything, not by any means, but it is a large part of who I am.
I have always believed that process is more important than results.
Finishing is one of the most difficult things to do in cricket. A player can't be a finisher in just 6 months or one year. You have to be used to that responsibility, keeping on doing what is required from you over a period of time.
It's important to learn and not repeat the same mistakes. What's done is done.
If you don't really have a dream, you can't really push yourself; you don't really know what the target is.
I love being in the present. When I was playing for my school, the only thing I wanted to do was get selected for the under-16 or the under-19 district teams. When I was selected for the district, I would think about the next level, which was getting selected for the state side. I'm a person who lives very in the moment.
I believe in giving more than 100% on the field, and I don't really worry about the result if there's great commitment on the field. That's victory for me.
Cricket is not everything, not by any means, but it is a large part of who I am. Therefore, I want to play in all formats of the game and to play as much as possible because, before long, it will be over.
I never allow myself to be pressured.
Spirit of cricket is not about just the guidelines provided.
You may earn whatever money you earn as a cricketer, but you want to play for your country. At the end of the day, you want to do something special. There are plenty of people who earn 50 crores or 100 crores as businessmen or big professionals or who are really doing well in business. But what gives pleasure to your mom and dad is the fame.
Everybody has views in life, and it should be respected.
You learn a lot more when you're going through a rough period compared to the good times when everything goes your way.
Selecting a strong team without giving the new captain appropriate time isn't possible.
Our biggest strength has always been the fans. All over, wherever we have gone, CSK has got support.
Nobody wants to really play bad cricket.
I resigned from captaincy because I wanted the new captain to get enough time for preparing a team before the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
If you keep winning, you don't know the areas you've to work hard.
Gut feeling is all about the experiences that you have had in your life. It is about being in difficult scenarios, knowing what worked, what did not work, and then taking a decision.
I love to be in the moment. I love to analyse things a bit.
If you play cricket for India, money is bound to come, and with IPL in and match money of the Ranjhi trophy, I think money is there. There's no good reason why you should not work hard, because at the end of the day, you want to play for your country.
You need to perform consistently, and if you're raising the standard, you have to stand by it. You have to keep on doing well.
You go through tough times. What I personally believe in is you should forget the stats. But also, it pushes you to see the areas where you have to work on to be a consistent team.
I have more than I will ever need for one life.
In tennis ball cricket, even it's hit from the toe of the bat, the ball still travels a lot, but in normal cricket, it has to be the middle part of the bat, so it requires a lot of work.
If you have forest, if you have green forest, the water table goes up. What happens with deforestation is the water level goes down and we all know how much importance drinking water has.
I don't like discussing cricket off the field.
For me, opposition is just another opposition.
My wife wants me to eat fish; she says it is delicious. But I don't like fish, so that is that.
In front of 40,000 people, you don't really want to drop a catch or misfield. It's part and parcel of the game.
Please criticize me, but how can you accuse me of something like fixing a cricket game after all that the game has given me.
I like to make statements on the field.
If you are good at studies, and you want to play cricket, you may work harder than any other person, but you may not achieve it. So it's something you have to balance in life and be practical where you are good and then channelise your efforts in the right direction to be successful in life.
I have formed the Mahendra Singh Dhoni Charitable Trust which organises cricket tournaments in Jharkhand to identify promising cricketers so that we can help groom them, either in India or abroad.
When I was playing for my school, the only thing I wanted to do was get selected for the Under-16 or the Under-19 district teams. When I was selected for the district, I would think about the next level, which was getting selected for the state side.
Going out for rides with my friends and having lunch or dinner at a roadside hotel - that's my favourite time-pass.
I tell my wife she is only the third most important thing after my country and my parents, in that order.
Frankly, I never thought that I would represent my country one day.
I'm quite used to playing with few injuries, whether it is back, fingers, elbow, or something else. You have to be tough and get on with the game.