MS Dhoni makes surprise appearance at TNPL

Star Indian wicket-keeper, MS Dhoni, is enjoying his time off the field, while his compatriots play England in the Test series. Dhoni returned home after the conclusion of the limited-overs leg of the tour of UK and will have a brief break from cricket.

India’s next limited-overs assignment will be the Asia Cup in the UAE in September, and the 37-year-old is having a great time off the field before that.

He paid a surprise visit to Tirunelveli, the India Cements Company ground during the ongoing Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), surprising the crowd as a result. Tirunelveli was about to host the encounter between Madurai Panthers and Kovai Kings, before the Ranchi local made an appearance on the field at the toss.

The former Indian captain has great connection with the locals in Chennai and in Tamil Nadu. He has led the Chennai Super Kings in all nine seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL), winning the title thrice.

Despite all the time spent in Chennai, Dhoni has not been able to improve his Tamil. However, the wicket-keeper batsman promised the fans that he will improve his Tamil before the next IPL season.

He claimed that he learns Tamil every year when the IPL starts, but forgets its vocabulary after the season ends. Thus, he has to start from the beginning in every new edition of the lucrative league.

“What brings me here is the TNPL (Tamil Nadu Premier League), of course, to start off. Every time I play IPL, I learn Tamil and once the tournament ends I have to start from scratch again. I will make sure that by next edition of IPL, I’ll learn a bit of Tamil,” the wicket-keeper batsman said.

The former Indian captain also claimed that Tirunelveli holds special importance for him.

“Also this is a special place, this is where India Cements started. I have been with them (India Cements) for a long time so, this gives me an opportunity to come and see the first Plant over here,” he explained.

Dhoni went on to add that the conditions for the TNPL look tough as there was a lot of wind blowing.

“Along with that, every year I come down and watch a few games of the TNPL, this is the first game I will be watching this year in person. Looks like challenging conditions here with the kind of breeze blowing,” Dhoni concluded.