Former India captain enjoys garam chai, samosas with Jharkhand teammates
Kolkata: Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday got nostalgic when he chose to meet his former colleagues at Eastern Railway in Kharagpur. The former India captain met two Group D staff who worked along with him during his days as Ticket Collector in South Eastern Railways.
Kharagpur will always have a special place for Mahi. It was in Kharagpur where a shy, reticent 20 year old Dhoni started his journey playing tennis ball cricket. It was well-documented in his biopic “MS Dhoni”, a blockbuster last year.
It was Dhoni, who preferred to travel by train with his Jharkhand teammates from Ranchi to Howrah to participate in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Kolkata. The Jharkhand team 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.
According to Jharkhand manager PN Singh, “Normally, we come to Kolkata by flight but Dhoni insisted the team to travel to Kolkata by train.”
Seated on berth no. 25, AE 1, Dhoni kept his teammates awaken till 2 am in the midnight. He kept his friends Rajeev Kumar, Monu Singh, Mihir Singh Diwakar enjoy his discussion which revolved mostly around cricket.
“He (Dhoni) was awake till 2 am and kept everyone busy enjoying his discussion on cricket,” said PN Singh.
The former India captain got down at Muri Junction to have a cup of garam chai (hot tea) and samosas.
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 Howarh.
“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 shared an interesting story when he bailed out his team against Bengal from the claws of defeat in a junior level match.
Dhoni, who relinquished the India captaincy in all formats recently, was approached by Jharkhand Cricket Association last year to lead the side. But he decided against as Varun Aaron was named the captain.
“The Jharkhand Cricket Association requested him to lead the side last year. Since, Varun Aaron was declared the captain, he thought of not doing the honour since it won’t look nice. Such is the man,” as PN Singh gets emotional.
Dhoni will be leading Jharkhand in domestic one-dayers for the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Kolkata.
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. Hundreds of fans crowded the platform, stamping his popularity. Perhaps, Sanjeev Goenka will admit that he is still the most popular brand in Indian cricket.