New Delhi:
If there are cricketers who are worshipped in India due to their legendary contributions, some names automatically crop up. Sachin Tendulkar is the designated 'God of Cricket' while Virat Kohli is hailed as one of the modern day cricket superstars. MS Dhoni, the former India captain, has a massive following of fans due to his glorious captaincy that saw India win the 2007 World T20, 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. In addition to his exploits for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, the legend of Dhoni continues to make fans worship him. A similar incident happened when the Indian cricket team prepared to come out for the Australian innings after Kohli's record 40th century helped India reah 250 all out on a tricky pitch at the VCA stadium.Â
With Dhoni shouting instructions from the background, suddenly a fan, sporting the 'Thalaiva' T-shirt, ran onto the pitch and tried to catch MS Dhoni. Ambati Rayudu tried to stop him and Virat Kohli tried to catch him but the fan was desperate to catch Dhoni. The Ranchi wicketkeeper-batsman was also in a playful mood and he jokingly dodged the fan. When the fan tried to come closer to Dhoni, he decided to put on his running shows. Dhoni, who is considered one of the quickest runners in cricket, galloped to the centre wicket in 15 seconds and the fan struggled to catch up. When he approached the wicket, he stopped and allowed the fan to catch him.Â
Dhoni 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/37yINRR8ZG
— Harami Launde (@HaramiLaunde) March 5, 2019
This is not the first time that India's cricketers have been the receiving end of fans adulation. In the 2018 IPL, fans tried to touch Dhoni's feet in a couple of IPL games while Ajinkya Rahane also had a moment during the Rajasthan Royals game in Jaipur. In Gautam Gambhir's final cricket game in the Ranji clash against Hyderabad, one fan jumped the barricade at the Feroz Shah Kotla and touched his feet.Â
In the Nagpur ODI, Virat Kohli's magnificent 50th fifty had put India on course for a good score but Australia chipped away with wickets at regular intervals and the former India skipper came to bat in the 33rd over after Kedar Jadhav was dismissed by legspinner Adam Zampa for 11.Â
However, in the first ball he faced, Dhoni played back to a quicker delivery that skidded through and he looked to steer it to third man but the outside edge was taken by Usman Khawaja resulted in Dhoni being dismissed for a golden duck. The silence and the shock of the crowd in Jamtha spoke about how rare this failure has come for Dhoni at a time when he is enjoying a good run.
