Fulfilling his promise, former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni joined his army’s parachute regiment on Wednesday and began his two month training with the army unit. The parachute regiment’s headquarters is situated in the city of Bengaluru.
Lieutenant Colonel (Honorary) MS Dhoni to serve his Battalion in the Territorial Army from July 15 to August 19 in #Kashmir. He will be assigned patrolling, guard duty. pic.twitter.com/hpFcUWCARj
— Anuradha Tripathi (@anuradhatripat3) July 25, 2019
“Just like Dhoni has been one of the greatest servants of Indian cricket, his love for the armed forces is also a well-documented fact. This idea that he would go and spend time with his regiment was in the pipeline for a while but it took a backseat due to his cricketing commitments”.
“This move by Dhoni will also help in increasing the awareness among the youth about the armed forces and that is what Dhoni wants,” a source was quoted as saying by India.com.
This 3 yr old video was posted in my #whatsappwonderbox today. MS, you look good in those military fatigues…and you also look good in the transport allotted to you! ? @msdhoni pic.twitter.com/TpjoJSyHX5
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) July 23, 2019
MS Dhoni to be posted in Kashmir
The parachute regiment is currently stationed in Kashmir as part of Victor Force, from July 31 to August 15, 2019.
The 2011 World Cup winning captain holds a honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in Territorial unit of Parachute regiment(106 Para TA battalion). Dhoni was honored with the coveted post in the unit by Indian army in 2011 alongside Abhinav Bindra and Deepak Rao.
MS Dhoni made himself unavailable for the upcoming series against West Indies and will now join the paramilitary regiment for two months. The veteran cricketer received an honorary rank of lieutenant colonel by territorial army in 2011. He got this rank in the parachute regiment of the Indian army. He is expected to return for the home series against Faf Du Plessis’ South Africa, starting September.
The veteran cricketer was expected to retire after the 2019 World Cup but the team management and Virat Kohli advised him to stay back and groom younsters like Rishabh Pant for the upcoming 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia.
