Beyond Ranks and Results: MS Dhoni Engages with India’s Next Generation in ALLEN Online’s Rise to the Top Podcast

ALLEN Online launches Rise to the Top, a student conversation series that spotlights young achievers from across India through authentic, compelling exchanges with MS Dhoni. The first episode is now live on the ALLEN Online YouTube channel.

At its core, the series centres on students — their ambitions, doubts, family support systems, and defining turning points. Instead of revisiting study hours or scorecards, the conversations focus on the human journeys behind their achievements. Dhoni leads the dialogue, contributing perspective shaped by his own experiences with expectation and pressure, while allowing students to lead with their stories. Dhoni guides the conversation, sharing insights from his own journey of pressures and expectations.

The opening episode, Sapne Dekho, features Sekh Galib Raza from rural Odisha and Arpita Ghosh from a remote village in West Bengal, both now studying in government medical colleges.

For Arpita, the journey begins at home. Growing up in a village where few girls pursue higher education, she carries not only her own ambition but also her father’s long-held dream of seeing his daughter become a doctor. With her family’s steady encouragement, she prepares with the goal of returning one day as the first doctor rom her village.

Galib’s ambition takes shape during childhood visits to a local hospital with his mother, where he observes the reassurance doctors provide to anxious families. Despite personal health challenges and multiple attempts, he continues working toward that goal and ultimately secures admission into a government medical college.

The series underscores a simple idea: aspiration is not defined by geography. Meaningful success stories are emerging from small towns and villages across the country, shaped as much by character and conviction as by academic performance.

Rakesh Ranjan, Chief Executive Officer, ALLEN Online, said, “Students are often recognised only for their outcomes, while the journeys that shape them remain unheard. Rise to the Top was designed to bring those human stories forward. Having MS Dhoni lead these conversations brings a dimension of lived experience around handling pressure and expectation, which deepens the dialogue while keeping the focus firmly on the students.”

For decades, the ALLEN ecosystem has worked closely with students and families navigating demanding academic paths. This series extends that student-first approach into a format that celebrates ambition, honesty, and growth.

New episodes roll out on the ALLEN Online YouTube channel.

Watch the first episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnsBS9rhLuI

Trailer Link: https://youtu.be/grlj0Qrmc-s?si=561vKp6ntpZU-wiY

Teaser Link: https://youtu.be/RCUhUIEZC7o?si=zKEx3qvC9mE6BOsA