Internet Desk: Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been appointed as the Jharkhand team’s mentor for the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’s pre-season Buchi Babu Memorial All-India Invitational Cricket Tournament, starting in Chennai from Thursday (August 5).
Dhoni was originally supposed to be a part of the backroom staff for the entire duration of the tournament, but a last-minute commitment means that now he will join the Shahbaz Nadeem-led team only before their last league game.
Ever since retiring from Test cricket in December 2014, Dhoni has dedicated more time in nurturing upcoming talent. He played in the 2015-16 Vijay Hazare Trophy, the inter-state 50-over competition. It was his first assignment for Jharkhand after a gap of eight years. Even though he got only 179 runs in eight games, his presence in the dressing room made a huge impact on the youngsters.
Jharkhand return to the Buchi Babu tournament for the first time in 14 years, and JSCA secretary Rajesh Verma said that they took up the invitation the moment it was made. Dhoni’s influence has not been restricted just to his state team. He made himself available for the low-profile tour of Zimbabwe, going out of his way to make the newcomers feel at home through team dinners, PlayStation contests and chats on the need for the youngsters to retain their individuality in pressure situations.
Apart from Jharkhand, who are in Group A, Hyderabad, Chhattisgarh, Railways and Uttar Pradesh are the other outstation teams, while TNCA will field three teams – TNCA President’s XI, TNCA XI and TNCA Districts XI. Jharkhand open their campaign against Uttar Pradesh, who will have Suresh Raina in their ranks.