Cricket Country have reported a video clip of seasoned Indian captain MS Dhoni and star batsman Virat Kohli poking fun at premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s attempts to master the Hindi language.
During a television commercial for a mobile phone which hasn't been released yet, Ashwin is seen pointing out the poor quality of a smartphone’s video feature. The Tamil Nadu spinner jested in Hindi, “Picture quality bakwass hai.” (Picture quality is nonsense)
Kohli responds with a witty remark about the off-spinner’s improving Hindi. In an obviously sarcastic tone, the Delhi dasher observed, “Inki Hindi bahut achi hai.” (His Hindi is pretty good)
In the end, Dhoni has a hearty laugh at the conversation of two of his go-to players when playing for the country. However, the 34-year old did not stop at that and proceeded to have some fun of his own in a second version for the same advertisement.
In response to Ashwin's above mentioned comment on the poor video quality of a mobile, a voice belonging to a third person notes, "Yeh lelo. Iss mein kuch khaas?" (See this. Is it any better?)
When another smartphone is shown to him, Ashwin is stumped and does not quite know how to respond. Dhoni looks on amusedly and says, “Bhoolgaya dialogue?” (Have you forgotten the dialogue?)
While Hindi is the major language in the northern part of the country, regional languages dominate the scene in South and East India. In Ashwin’s hometown of Chennai, the primary language is Tamil.
This facet also highlights India's rich diversity and how English acts as the lingua franca between people belonging to different states. Interestingly, the videos also evoke nostalgia about Sunil Gavaskar's anecdote on how his long-time opening partner Krishnamachari Srikkanth (also belonging to Tamil Nadu) entertained the dressing room with his broken Hindi.
Erstwhile teammates in the Chennai Super Kings franchise, Dhoni and Ashwin are now representing the newly former Rising Pune Super Giants even as Kohli is leading the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2016 edition of the Indian Premier League.
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