MS Dhoni urges NRI's to continue supporting Team India

MS Dhoni and Sakshi were in the US last Sunday performing a puja at the Siddhivinayak Temple

MS Dhoni has urged the Indian diaspora in the US to keep supporting team India as they undergo changes after the retirement of Dhoni from Tests, reported sports.ndtv.com. Dhoni was in New Jersey to perform a puja at the Siddhivinayak Temple which is set to open at the end of this year for the public. Dhoni, who normally doesn’t make public appearances when in the US, made an appearance and spoke to fans and interacted with people.

During his interaction he asked the Indians in the US to keep supporting the Indian cricket team, "Keep supporting us. We have a good side, we have a good team. We are in a phase where we are going through a lot of changes but with all due support of yours, we will keep doing well," Dhoni said at the Siddhivinayak Temple here on Sunday.

Dhoni was accompanied by Sakshi, his wife and Sudesh Kumar Mahto former Jharkhand Chief Minister, to perform a puja at the under-construction temple which will open to the public at the end of the year. He said it was eye-opening to see how the Indians had embraced the American culture, without giving up on their heritage.

"This is something that is really appreciable. Having immigrated to the US many years ago but to still be 200 per cent Indian and still acknowledge and respect the traditions of the country you are in, I feel is something that everybody needs to learn," he said.

Dhoni also said that cricket is not popular in America but he makes it a point to tell people that it is almost like baseball. Dhoni shared an anecdote with the audience about his hometown of Ranchi and how not many foreign players knew about the city and mistook it for Karachi and how he had to explain that Karachi was in Pakistan and Ranchi in the state of Jharkhand.

Dhoni appreciated first and second generation Indian-Americans for having taught their children about various aspects of life, "That is something I really appreciate," he said.

#MSDhoni interacted with Indian diaspora in US and asked them to keep supporting the team http://t.co/9wlssOxEKF pic.twitter.com/dCWK0PAgvf

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