Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s hairstyles: From dreadlocks to mohawks to a shaved head

There’s always a thing with sportspersons and their hairstyles. Be it a man-bun like Welsh forward Gareth Bale or a Mohawk-like Marek Hamsik, sportspersons are known to tinker with their locks quite often.

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Cricketers, too, have been part of the trend with Australian Colin Miller perhaps outdoing them all with the infamous bright blue tint.

When Mahendra Singh Dhoni debuted for India cricket team in 2004, he came in with a golden mane that would make the young player stand out. It was an instant hit with the cricket-fanatic crowd.

Fans were seen sporting not just the style but the colour as well, as they headed to the stadium. It became trendy even more after Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored the 183 against Sri Lanka and finished the game with a six.

In 2006, Mahendra Singh Dhoni switched the colour to black and with the golden bit no longer there, the style was easier to copy for fans. It became a tad classier than his previous look and the fan following grew.

In 2007, however, the long hair was gone and was replaced by a shorter hair-cut with a small spike in front.

It broke several hearts, including that of former Pakistan Prime Minister General Pervez Musharraf, who had urged him to never have a hair-cut but the former Indian captain chose otherwise.

Next year, even the spike was nowhere to be seen and shades of the sides being trimmed a tad more than the crown and the nape became Dhoni’s latest fashion statement.

In 2009, though he did tinker with a short spike in front yet again, but the fades on the sides were still there. For the first time in a few years, he stuck to his hairstyle. His side-burns however had gone longer, but it wasn’t a drastic switch.

If the long hair getting trimmed would have broken a million hearts, it’s difficult to imagine how many hearts were broken when Dhoni had a buzz cut in 2010.

In six years of international cricket, it was for the first time that Dhoni looked aged. His grey hair had started to show and with the short stubble, they were visible on his face as well.

After winning the World Cup in 2011, Dhoni went bald overnight. He did grow it back later, but it was difficult to imagine why he would suddenly shave off his hair. But then, when was the last time we guessed what Mahendra Singh Dhoni would do next.

In 2012, Dhoni’s love for his spikes was visible again. The faded sides had come back but so had the little spike in front as Dhoni looked the captain cool all over again.

In 2013, the spikes were gone again as Dhoni sported a Mohawk that didn’t look classy at all but fans would nonetheless copy what he did.

However, even this didn’t last long and he switched to a heavy crown and salt-and-pepper stubble in 2014, the year he retired from the longest format of the game.

In 2015, however, he switched back to the faded sides and spikes. But with the increasing grey hair on the sides, the charm might be back, but the class was gone.

It didn’t change much in 2016 with the fades staying. The stubble too was a constant. The only thing that did change, however, was that the spike wasn’t always there with the crown often getting heavy. Nonetheless, the former captain did look cool!