News Desk |
Former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, an honorary Lieutenant Colonel in Indian Army, has taken up his battalion’s duties stationed in Jammu and Kashmir. MS Dhoni with his troops will be on patrolling, guarding, and post duties in J&K.
Dhoni, who opted out from the Indian cricket team’s tour of West Indies, had asked Indian Army to assign him duties with his battalion.
Read more: Dhoni welcomed with ‘Boom Boom Afridi’ chants in Indian Kashmir
Former captain Dhoni will celebrate India’s Independence Day with his battalion in Jammu and Kashmir on August 15. MS Dhoni will begin his military stint on July 31st.
This is awesome 😍😍😍
MSD in Military attire #Dhoni @ChennaiIPL pic.twitter.com/j4goJe7GHP— IndiaGlitz – Tamil (@igtamil) July 24, 2019
He will be spending two weeks with his 106 Territorial Army battalion. The wicket-keeper will be with the 106 Territorial Army battalion.
“As requested by the officer and approved by the Army headquarters, he will be taking on the duties of patrolling, guard and post duty and would be staying with troops,” said a senior official. Dhoni has taken a two-month break from cricket.
MS Dhoni was conferred an honorary post in Indian Army in 2011. 4 years ago, he became a qualified paratrooper upon completing five parachute jump training from Indian Army aircrafts at the Agra training camp. He had also posted a photo on Instagram with the special forces logo on it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKn5BQxhm0Z/
Under his captaincy the Indian cricket team had a streak of successive victories. MS Dhoni had led India to victory in the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 World Cup, and the 2013 Champions Trophy.
His honorary military post was surrounded by controversy when Dhoni sported an Indian Army dagger’s insignia on his gloves during India’s opening World Cup match against South Africa. ICC caught Dhoni contravening its two rules; display of personal messages and breach of clothing and equipment regulation.
Last March Dhoni also took the initiative of making his teammates wear Army caps in a home match against Australia. The cricketers also announced that they would contribute the match’s earnings to the Indian Defence Fund. This happened right after India and Pakistan de-escalated from a near-war situation after breaching each other’s airspace.
Read more: India politicising sports: Fawad condemns cricketers wearing army caps
38 year old Dhoni is a right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper, he is one of the highest run-scorers in One Day Internationals (ODIs) with 10,773 runs in 350 one day internationals, averaging at a beefy 50.6 runs per innings.
He is also considered one of the best “finishers” in limited-overs formats and is credited with popularizing the bottom hand technique in batting.
MS Dhoni came under fire for his performance in the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup. The criticism was directed especially towards his batting in the end overs against England in the group stage and New Zealand final. India lost both these games while chasing, leading Dhoni to be blasted for his apparent lack of intent to take his team home.
Read more: Did India deliberately lose a crucial match against England?
Speculations had begun that this was MS Dhoni’ last ICC World Cup and that he would soon announce his retirement from international cricket. Although on a temporary break, he seems to have postponed his retirement for now.