It was a field day for former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni in Leh on Saturday, when he played cricket with kids at a basketball court. A photograph of the firebrand cricketer playing with the kids was widely circulated across social media platforms.
The photograph was shared on micrblogging site Twitter by Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings, which is led by Dhoni. Along with the picture, CSK tweeted, “Different field. Different gamepLeh. #Thala @msdhoni #WhistlePodu.”
Different field. Different gamepLeh. #Thala @msdhoni #WhistlePodu pic.twitter.com/K7lEBBYvyF
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) August 17, 2019
Dhoni, who holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Honorary) in the Territorial Army, has just completed his training with the 106 Territorial Army Battalion (Para). He was a part of the Victor Force for the training from July 31 to August 15.
The former captain had earlier got an approval from Army chief General Bipin Rawat to train with the Parachute regiment for two months. He, however, did not have the permission to be part of any active operation.
The 38-year-old was accorded the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army unit of the Parachute Regiment (106 Para TA battalion) by the Indian Army in 2011. Dhoni was given the honour along with Abhinav Bindra and Deepak Rao.
The former captain had in 2015 became a qualified paratrooper after having completed five parachute training jumps from Indian Army aircraft in the Agra training camp.
During the recently concluded ICC World Cup 2019, questions were raised on the fitness level and slow batting rate of Dhoni. Speculations about his retirement from international cricket were also rife after team India’s exit from the World Cup after loss against New Zealand in the semi-finals.
