Former India captain MS Dhoni understands Bengali not only because of Jharkhand’s proximity to West Bengal but also because of his work experience in the state. As is commonly known, Dhoni had worked as a TTE (Travelling Ticket Examiner) at Kharagpur (district in West Bengal) Railway Station for around three years between 2001-2004 before first playing for India.
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Irrespective of an individual’s profession, it is always beneficial to know languages apart from one’s mother tongue. However, Dhoni’s knowledge of another language once handed him an advantage in an international match against Bangladesh. In a recently held promotional event, Dhoni recalled how knowing Bengali (especially listening) provided him an edge away from home.
While he didn’t disclose the exact match, Bangladeshi players, playing at home, had no idea that Dhoni could understand a discussion in their local language. Hence, when their wicket-keeper communicated a certain instruction to a bowler, it went futile as it wasn’t a secret for Dhoni.
“Interestingly, hum log Bangladesh mein match khel rahe the [Interestingly, we were playing in Bangladesh]. Main batting kar raha tha, unko nahin pata tha mujhe Bengali aati hai [I was batting but they didn’t know that I knew Bengali]. Wicket-keeper udhar se chila ke fast bowler ko bol raha tha kuch. Mujhe pehle hi pata tha woh kya daalne wala hai [The wicket-keeper was screaming instructions to the fast bowler but I already knew what delivery was going to be],” Dhoni said with a smile on his face.
For those who don’t know, Bangladesh has been a special country for Dhoni. Including his international debut, he played a total of 34 matches across all formats scoring 895 runs at an average of 63.92 with the help of a century and five half-centuries there. During the course of a decorated 15-year old international career, Dhoni had toured Bangladesh on 10 different occasions.
Furthermore, Bengalis and West Bengal have played a vital role in shaping Dhoni’s life for the good. Animesh Kumar Ganguly, manager of South Eastern Railway at the time, had provided Dhoni the aforementioned much-needed job under sports quota as also depicted in his biopic titled ‘M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story’ (2016). Apart from the job and cricket, the Chennai Super Kings captain also managed to form a cordial bond with Animesh’s family.
Keshav Ranjan Banerjee, also a Bengali, was Dhoni’s first cricket coach. Furthermore, it’s a well-known fact that Dhoni’s international career received a shot in the arm post scoring a maiden international century. Having noticed Dhoni’s potential, then-captain Sourav Ganguly had willingly sacrificed his No. 3 position in a bid to promote Dhoni.
How A Cunning Monty Panesar Had Deceived MS Dhoni Once
Quite ironically, Dhoni has also been on the receiving end of being foxed due to an opposition player’s knowledge of Hindi. Having played eight Tests in India across three different tours, former England spinner Monty Panesar had deceived Dhoni because of his Indian roots.
Born to Punjabi parents in England, Panesar is well-versed with both Punjabi and Hindi. As a result, Dhoni’s habit of instructing his bowlers in Hindi had once backfired in Panesar’s presence. Speaking to The Times of India in 2020, Panesar had recalled how he acted like he didn’t understand anything whenever Dhoni used to alter field settings.
“I remember his tips to the bowlers, especially spinners, from behind the stumps. Abhi thodi wide ball daalo. Abhi thoda seedha stumps pe rakho. Yeh across line khelne waala hai, seedha daalo. Yeh deep mid-wicket pe chakka marega, thoda wide rakhna [Bowl a little wide now. Now bowl straight on the stumps. He is going to play across the line, so bowl straight. He will attempt a six over mid-wicket, bowl a little wide]”, Panesar recalled Dhoni’s instructions during their playing days.
It is worth of a mention that Dhoni loves learning new languages and he shares this common trait with his daughter, Ziva, as well. In an Instagram video posted by Dhoni four years ago, he was seen asking Ziva “how are you?” in six different languages namely Tamil, Bengali, Gujarati, Bhojpuri, Punjabi and Urdu.
