This Is The Heartbreaking Story Of MS Dhoni's Friend Santosh Lal, The Guy Who Taught Him The Helicopter Shot
Thursday, March 5, 2020 IST
MS Dhoni, the player and his life story, is winning more fans by the day, post the release of his biopic MS Dhoni: The Untold Story. And now his patent 'helicopter shot' is the image on every Dhoni fan's mind.
But how many of you know the inventor of the helicopter shot? Do you think it is Dhoni's own invention? Not quite. In fact, it was Dhoni's childhood friend Santosh Lal, who is said to have helped Dhoni master the unusual shot.
Santosh used to be Dhoni's cricket buddy and they both used to play lot of tennis ball cricket together. They used to travel together across the state for their cricket matches and the India ODI captain was very fond of Santosh's batting skills.
"He and Dhoni were the best of friends since childhood. They would play tennis ball games endlessly. They both worked for Railways. Santosh was fearless as a batsmen," Nishant Dayal, another longtime friend of Santosh, told the Indian Express three years back.
Dhoni never lost his friendship with Santosh despite becoming a star in the Indian team. Santosh had gone on to play Ranji cricket later for Jharkhand state team. However, tragically, Santosh suffered pancreatitis and lost his life in July, 2013. At that time, Dhoni had arranged for Santosh to be flown in from Ranchi to Delhi to get proper treatment but Santosh didn't make it.
Had it not been for Santosh's passion for cricket, his love for Dhoni and his best wishes, Dhoni wouldn't have been Dhoni. The nation owes a lot to Santosh Lal.
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