Meet Santosh Lal, MS Dhoni's friend who invented and taught Mahi the 'helicopter shot'

Santosh, sadly passed away three years ago.

Courtesy: India Today

New Delhi: One of Indian cricket's most renowned names, MS Dhoni, has set many records and registered himself in the history books for more than one reason.

The Captain Cool, who is famous for his match winning sixes, is credited for the introduction of the trademark 'helicopter shot'.

What comes out as a revelation from Dhoni's biopic – MS Dhoni: The Untold Story – is that it was rather his childhood friend Santosh Lal who invented the shot during the duo's gully-cricket days.

He even taught Dhoni the skill of hitting this shot, and the Indian ODI captain later mastered it to perfection. (READ: MS Dhoni - The Untold Story: REAL scorecard of Yuvi's 358-run knock for Punjab against Mahi's Bihar)

The pair were friends from a very young age and played plenty of tennis ball like every other child in the colony and wandered all across Jharkhand to play cricket at a higher level. Dhoni, reportedly, was also a huge admirer of his friend's batting style having learnt from him so much.

Santosh, who sadly passed away three year ago, was a member of the Jharkhand Ranji squad and a team mate of the Indian captain on domestic level. He was being treated with a severe case of pancreatitis at Ranchi and was later shifted to New Delhi due to his worsening condition.

In an attempt to help Santosh, the Jharkhand State Cricket Association donated Rs. 1 lakh while Rs 39,500 was contributed by the association members.

Later, a condolence meeting was organised in memory of the deceased cricketer at the JSCA stadium.

It was very special of Mahi to reveal the story of his friend in his biopic. (READ: MS Dhoni: The untold story – Read why Mahi wept like a baby in one of the scenes…)

Though there are many other interesting aspects of MS Dhoni’s life that are revealed in the movie, this was unarguably a hugely emotional one.