DHONI

For the Indian cricketer, see Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

For the Indian film, see Dhoni (film).

Dhoni or Doni (Dhivehi: ދޯނި pronounced Dōni) is a multi-purpose sail boat with a motor or lateen sails that is used in the Maldives. It is handcrafted and its use within the multi-island nation has been very important. A dhoni resembles a dhow, a traditional Arab sailing vessel.

The traditional dhoni is one of the oldest known sea vessels in the Maldives. Many of these traditional sailing vessels were, of necessity, built using coconut palm timber. The sailing dhoni was used in earlier days by Maldivian fishermen. During the industrial revolution many fisherman changed to a mechanized dhoni.

The Kannada and Konkani word for a small boat is Doni and the Malayalam word for a small boat is Thoni perhaps in keeping with the tradelinks between Arabs and the konkani people in Goa and other port cities in India's konkan and west coast.

The islands of the Maldives have an extensive fleet of fishing boats, built domestically, each of which can carry about eight to twelve persons. Nearly all of these are variants of the dhoni.

In 1995 there were 1,674 registered fishing vessels in the Maldives. Of these, 1,407 were motorised pole and line craft (masdhoni) for tuna fishing in coastal waters, 5 were sailing masdhoni, 48 were mechanised vadhudhoni, 209 were sailing vadhudhoni and 5 were row boats used for trolling in reef waters.^[1]

Based on a US$3.2 million loan from the International Development Association(IDA), most of the boats were mechanized in the course of the 1980s.^[2] Although the addition of motors increased fuel costs, it resulted in doubling the fishing catch between 1982 and 1985. Moreover, the 1992 catch of 82,000 tons set a record; for example, in 1987 the catch was 56,900 tons.^[2]

It is a plank-built craft traditionally built with coconut wood, although imported wood from Southeast Asia is increasingly used. Originally sailing craft, nowadays these boats are usually fitted with motors. The main site for building dhonis is presently in Alifushi Raa Atoll. This boat building is a traditional craft in the Maldives, and young apprentices are trained by skilled craftsmen. Boats crafted from timber take 60 days to complete.

Dhonis used to be built withouth plans. The master carpenter took measurements and gave instructions to the carpenters.^[3]Contemporary dhonis are often built using fibreglass. Dhonis fitted with diesel engines are extensively used on resort islands for scuba diving purposes, their low freeboard being ideal for this activity.

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DRAVID

Rahul Dravid (English pronunciation: /rɑːhuːl drɑːvɪd/ ( listen)); (born Rahul Sharad Dravid; 11 January 1973) is a former Indian cricketer, who captained the national Test and One Day International (ODI) cricket teams. Born in a Marathifamily, he started playing cricket at the age of 12 and later represented the state team at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 levels. Popularly nicknamed "The Wall", he has been described as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket.^[1][2][3] He was named one of the best five cricketers of the year byWisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2000^[4] and received the Player of the Year and the Test Player of the Year awards at the inaugural ICC awards ceremony in 2004.^[5] In December 2011, he became the first non-Australian cricketer to address at the Bradman Oration in Canberra.^[6]

As of October 2012, Dravid is the third-highest run scorer in Test cricket, afterSachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting, and the third Indian cricketer to exceed 10,000 runs both in Tests and in ODIs.^[7][8] Wisden ranked him the third greatest Test batsman of all time, after Don Bradman and Tendulkar. As of April 2009, he is the only cricketer to score a century in all ten Test-playing countries.^[9] As of October 2012, he holds the record for the most number of catches taken by a player in Test cricket, with 210.^[10]

In August 2011, after receiving an unexpected call to play in the ODI series against England, Dravid declared his retirement from ODIs as well as Twenty20 International (T20I), and in March 2012, he announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket. He appeared in the 2012 Indian Premier League as captain of the Rajasthan Royals.^[11]

Rahul Dravid, along with Glenn McGrath were honoured during the seventh annual Bradman Awards function in Sydney on November 1, 2012.^[12]

Personal life and domestic career

Dravid was born in a Maharashtrian Deshastha Brahmin family in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.^[13] His family later moved to Bangalore, Karnataka, where he was raised.^[14] Dravid's father worked for a company that makes jams and preserves, giving rise to the later nickname Jammy. His mother, Pushpa, was a professor ofArchitecture at the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), Bangalore.^[15] He has a younger brother, Vijay. Dravid did his schooling from St. Joseph's Boys High School, Bangalore and earned a degree in commerce from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore.

Dravid started playing cricket at the age of 12, and represented Karnataka at the under-15, the under-17 and the under-19 levels.^[16]Former cricketer Keki Tarapore first noticed Dravid's talent while coaching at a summer camp in the Chinnaswamy Stadium.^[17] Dravid scored a century for his school team. He also played as wicket-keeper, but later stopped keeping wicket on the advice of former Test players Gundappa Vishwanath, Roger Binny, Brijesh Patel and Tarapore.

Dravid made his Ranji Trophy debut in February 1991, while he was still attending college. Playing alongside future Indian teammatesAnil Kumble and Javagal Srinath against Maharashtra in Pune, he scored 82 runs in the match, which ended in a draw.^[18] His first full season was in 1991–92, when he scored two centuries and finished up with 380 runs at an average of 63.3,^[19] getting selected for theSouth Zone cricket team in the Duleep Trophy.^[20]

On 4 May 2003 he married Vijeta Pendharkar, a surgeon from Nagpur.^[21] They have two children: Samit, born in 2005,^[22] and Anvay, born in 2009.^[23]

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