During the Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final encounter between Bengal and Jharkhand, MS Dhoni once again had a moment, which described his crazy fan following in the cricketing circles.
As the batsman was getting back to the crease, a few fans landed on the pitch and one of them touched Dhoni’s feet. The umpire standing near the bowling crease immediately asked the fans to leave the field and the two rushed away from the pitch even as the former India captain, initially left a bit stunned by what had happened, returned back to the crease.
This is not the first time that something like this has happened. In fact, in the quarterfinal stage of the competition, Dhoni, batting to take Jharkhand past the finish line, was met by a spectator in the middle of the pitch, who not just touched his feet, but got an autograph from the World Cup winning skipper in the small sheet of paper that he had carried with him onto the field.
The first time something like this happened was in the warm-up match between India A and England in January, when a fan came onto the field and touched the skipper’s feet, leaving him stunned. He, then shook the fan’s hand before the security personnel intervened and took the fan away.
Extra Cover: MS Dhoni does a first, signs an autograph while batting
Ever since he made his debut for India in 2004, Dhoni has built a cult following among the masses, for his ability to win trophies, finish games and also lead from the front on most occasions.In January, he decided to step down as the captain in both the ODI and the T20I format and a day before the IPL auction, he was removed from the leadership role at the Rising Pune Supergiant as well.
In the match itself, Dhoni’s Jharkhand had a mountain to climb as far as reaching the final was concerned with Bengal putting up a mammoth score of 329 for 4 in 50 overs with both openers- Shreevats Goswami and Abhimanyu Easwaran- notching up identical scores of 101 and skipper Manoj Tiwary chipping in with a 49-ball 75.
In reply, Jharkhand put up a spirited fight with Dhoni nothing up 70, but fell short by 41 runs.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
