Kolkata: Former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was spotted in the whites at the iconic Eden Gardens ahead of India’s first Test match against Sri Lanka at the same venue on November 16. While many were surprised to see the wicket-keeper batsman in such an attire, given the fact that the right-hander had called it quits on his Test career way back in 2014, it was later seen that he had donned the whites as a part of ad shoot at the ground. He wasn’t alone as he was joined by the legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev, who bowled a few deliveries to him.
Kapil too was in the whites and this was the very first time that India’s two World Cup winning captains were seen together during an ad shoot. The iconic all-rounder, known as the, ‘Haryana Hurricane’ bowled a few deliveries to Dhoni who tried to play the helicopter shot. Both of them would stay for another day in the city and would be involved in the second part of the advertisement, to be shot in a studio on Friday.
Mihir Diwakar, Dhoni’s childhood friend had accompanied him to the city said, “We have come here on Wednesday afternoon. It was planned six months back that we will visit Kolkata for this Ad shoot after being associated with SRMB. You know that Dhoni always have tough schedule and we got a gap for a month after the New Zealand series, that’s why we are here.”
That these two legends would be seen sharing the screen for the first time is indeed an exciting fact. Diwakar said, “Both of them are inspiration for all the upcoming cricketers. We have seen a revolution in Indian Cricket during Kapil Ji and Dhoni’s era and this would be the first time that these two legends will share same frame in a big platform like this.”
Diwakar also didn’t talk much about the theme of the advertisement. He said, “I don’t know much about the content but when two leaders meet together the theme most likely would be on that. The fans can see this advertisement at the start of the New Year.”
Of late, Dhoni has once again been attacked by various corners after India’s loss against New Zealand in the second T20I and Diwakar said, “He plays cricket 24*7. Whenever we meet, we just talk about our good old days to relax ourselves. Discussion of cricket is totally banned when we meet each other.”
Gambhir bats for Dhoni
Out-of-favour India opener Gautam Gambhir has come out in support of MS Dhoni saying that people have always criticised his captaincy but he deserves credit for what he has done for Indian cricket.
He said, “You need to give credit where (it’s due). (At times) People have criticized his (MSD’s) captaincy. What he has done for Indian cricket, not a lot of people have done that, especially the way he handled the lows. It is very easy to handle the highs. But the way he has handled the lows has been remarkable. Especially in Australia and England (2011-12) where we were hammered (4-0) and still being as calm as he was, not showing too many emotions, (for that) I think a lot of credit needs to go to MS.”