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It will be different in Ranchi without Dhoni, says Kumble

[caption id="attachment_39140" align="aligncenter" width="580"] India will face Australia in the third Test at Ranchi on Thursday. Image Source: XtraTime[/caption] Debasis Sen, Ranchi: As you come out of the Ranchi railway station, your eyes will draw towards a huge hoarding of Jharkhand State Cricket Association, welcoming everyone to the small town of Ranchi. Come Thursday, as the people of Jharkhand will witness its first ever test match played here. But at the same time the mood will be sombre, as it will be for the first time that India will play without Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Ranchi’s most famous cricketing son, however, will not be in attendance. Dhoni, having retired from test cricket couple of years back will be busy playing the Vizay Hazare Trophu matches in the capital. The Jharkhand State Cricket Association has hosted five international games till date – 4 ODI’s and one T20I. The former India captain has missed only one ODI against Sri Lanka in November 2014 as he injured his finger. The former India captain has been closely associated with the work that gone underway. Nothing would have given him greater joy than to play a Test match in the city of his birth, but he can at least take pride in the fact that Ranchi is now a Test centre, no matter if he won’t be a part of the historic occasion. It would have been a fitting tribute to Dhoni, had one of the stands at JSCA named after him. In Mumbai you have the stands at Wankhede stadium named after legends like Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar. The occasion would have been ideal to have a stand named after the favourite son of the city. But the officials are tight lipped on the issue. Although Dhoni will not be in town, the JSCA officials have invited his entire family to come and watch the match. It is assumed that the man himself may also make a surprise visit, provided Jharkhand fails to win its Vijay Hazare trophy matches in Delhi. Adil Hussein, who was the captain of Dhoni for five years when he played for them, got nostalgic on the eve of the maiden test in the city. “We used to play around 30-40 matches a year. There wasn’t any moment when Dhoni refused to play. Such has been his dedication towards the game. It will be a special moment for Jharkhand to host a test match here,” said Adil to xtratime.in Adil further added, “People know about Jharkhand only because of Dhoni. He has played a key role in bringing Jharkhand in international map in the field of sports.” JSCA vice president Ajay Singh Deo is delighted to host a test match at the venue. Speaking about Dhoni’s involvement, Ajay said, “He (Dhoni) has been emotionally attached with this stadium. We always try and carry his out his suggestions. It wouldn’t have been possible without his contribution to the game.” India coach Anil Kumble too voiced the same sentiment. According to Kumble, “We miss everyone but in Ranchi without MS, for the people of Ranchi it will be different. I hope MS will come sometime during the Test. I know he is away playing the Hazare knockouts for Jharkhand but we hope that at some stage during the five days of the Test, he will come here. It will definitely be different.” "It's all because of Dhoni that we're able to host our first Test match here. His rise has put the city in international map. But at the moment, we want him to do well in New Delhi. At the same time, we hope Ranchi becomes lucky for Team India," Dhoni's childhood Coach Keshav Banerjee told xtratime.in Jharkhand Cricket Association secretary Debashish Chakraborty said, "Dhoni is the only icon here. Certainly the crowd will miss him during the historic occasion. But we are trying our best to fill in the stands. We expect to see at least 30,000 in attendance each day."