Mahendra Singh Dhoni, famous for his match winning sixes, is also widely acknowledged as the inventor of the unusual but impactful ‘helicopter-shot’.
The shot caught the imagination of cricket observers who thought only a rare combination of skill, power and hand-eye coordination – one that only Captain Cool has – is required to get it right.
Turns out Dhoni, who has become synonymous with the shot, did not invent it and managed to learn the trick from a friend and co-player during his heydays.
Dhoni's childhood friend Santosh Lal, who passed away three years ago, was the one who taught him the ‘Thappad Shot’ as they used to call it back then.
Santosh taught Dhoni this super awesome shot in exchange for some singhadas (samosas). The perfect finisher later mastered it to perfection.
The revelation came in the recently released biopic ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’.
Even after Dhoni became famous, he remained friends with Santosh who went on to play Ranji cricket.
Sadly, Santosh later succumbed to pancreatitis and died at the age of 32.
In order to help his ailing friend, Dhoni had even arranged an air ambulance so that they could shift him to a Delhi hospital, but it all went in vain. Due to bad weather, the helicopter got stuck at Varanasi and it was too late for them to reach Delhi.
Nishant Dayal, a common friend of Lal and Dhoni, had revealed this about three years back while speaking to 'The Indian Express'.
“He (Santosh) 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 batsman. Over the years, Dhoni may have patented the “helicopter shot" but growing up, there was someone who was better at it. Dhoni always admired his batting style. And Santosh taught him to play the helicopter shot,” Dayal said.
