(File Pic)
Srinagar, August 16: MS Dhoni isn’t just a name in the cricketing world. The boy from Ranchi, who grew into a legend, has inspired millions in his long stellar career.
As he called it a day in international cricket on Sunday, cricketers around the globe poured in wishes and shared memories of the arguably India’s best captain ever.
Pertinently, back in 2017, J&K was facing Jharkhand in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and after the match, Dhoni made a surprise visit to the J&K dressing room.
Despite losing the match, the J&K players were elated. They all eagerly heard whatever the legend had to say.
“Mahibhai has always been helpful on cricketing matters. That’s his nature. It was a great opportunity to learn a thing or two from Mahibhai. He is a great guy. I played alongside him for India (Rasool’s skipper in his brief stint with India team were Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli),” Rasool was quoted as saying by PTI after the match.
“I told him (Dhoni) few of our youngsters want to meet him for five minutes and within no time he obliged us and said ‘I will go from here’,” Rasool had said.
Raman Thaploo, a die-hard Dhoni fan, who was keeping wickets for J&K in the match, also fetched some important tips from Dhoni, making it a day to remember for him.
“It was a great opportunity for our youngsters who have seen Dhoni only on TV… They saw Mahibhai for the first time today. Mahi went inside and answered their cricketing queries.” Raman had said.
Ian Dev Singh, who was having a hard time with the bat, also received some advice.
“Every cricketer goes through a bad phase. When you are in good form, even a bad fielder takes a brilliant catch but it’s opposite in bad times. He said to work even harder in such testing times, be serious in the nets. You should not get out in nets. You will take confidence if you have this.” Dhoni told the J&K batsman.
The players and support staff, who were all smiles, also lined up to take a selfie with him, and Dhon didn’t disappoint even a single one of them. Many of the J&K cricketers Saturday shared those pictures on their social media, expressing sadness on his retirement.