Dhoni goes back memory lanes; travel in train with Jharkhand team after 13 years

Jharkhand team management not happy with practice arrangement for Dhoni

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Former India captain MS Dhoni at the Howrah Station with Jharkhand teammates to take part in Vijay Hazare Trophy. Image Source: XtraTime

Internet Desk: Respect is perhaps the perfect word for the former India captain MS Dhoni, who preferred to travel by train with his Jharkhand one-day cricket team from Ranchi to Howrah to participate in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Kolkata.

Regarded as one of the richest cricketer in the country, Dhoni could have easily travelled in a flight or drove his Hummer all the way to Kolkata, but the veteran cricketer preferred travelling with his teammates in AC 1st-Tier from Hatia to Howrah.

“I am travelling in a train after 13 years. It is a long route and I will enjoy it. I’ll talk to my teammates and enjoy,” Dhoni was quoted as saying.

Dhoni will be leading Jharkhand in domestic one-dayers for the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Kolkata.

“They (Jharkhand) did not have a special coach reserved for them and Dhoni travelled with his team and other co-passengers in 2AC. They had a block booking for 23 passengers including Dhoni,” South Eastern Railway chief public relations officer Sanjoy Ghosh said.

Dhoni boarded the Kriya Yoga Express at 9.40 pm in Ranchi and disembarked in Howrah at 6.50 am this morning after crossing the Kharagpur platform early this morning at 4.15 am. The former India captain spotted a relaxed look in his blue sunglasses as he boarded the platform in Howrah station. He shared a selfie with his millions of followers on social network.

“We had prior information about this and so we had arranged special security when they boarded in Ranchi last night and upon their arrival this morning in Howrah,” Ghosh said.

Before making the India team Dhoni was employed by SER as a TTE from September 2001 till July 2004 in Kharagpur, something that is well-documented in his biopic “MS Dhoni”, a blockbuster last year.

The Jharkhand team management though is not happy with the practice and security arrangement in place for Dhoni. It was learnt that the local organizers i.e., Cricket Association of Bengal had made practice arrangements for Jharkhand team in Jadavpur University campus ground tomorrow. But according to Jharkhand team management; there will be security issues for Dhoni in JU campus. They requested the CAB to make practice arrangements at the Eden Gardens, but were informed it will not be possible as the practice schedule were mailed a long time back.

According to the chief curator of CAB, Mr. Sujan Chakraborty, “The practice schedule were mailed to all the participating teams. Both Jharkhand and Karnataka are scheduled to train at the Eden Gardens on February 24. But we are still trying to get the practice wickets ready for them to train at the Eden Gardens tomorrow afternoon.”

Dhoni was unceremoniously removed from captaincy of Rising Pune Supergiants few days back. Australian captain Steve Smith was appointed the captain by Sanjeev Goenka owned franchise.

Regarded as India’s most successful captain, Dhoni opted to lead his state and leave a mark with his captaincy.

Jharkhand will begin their campaign against Karnataka at Eden Gardens on February 25.