Amid reports of him training with the Indian Army’s Parachute Regiment, Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni was spotted at the Mumbai Airport on Saturday, 27 July.
After India’s campaign at the ICC World Cup ended with a loss to New Zealand in the semifinals, former India captain Dhoni made himself "unavailable" for the tour of West Indies.
The 38-year-old had instead told BCCI that he would take a two-month sabbatical from the game to serve his paramilitary regiment. And while earlier reports claimed that the wicketkeeper-batsman had joined the battalion on 24 July, his presence at the airport suggested otherwise.
In a statement on 25 July, the Indian Army said: "Lieutenant Colonel (Honorary) MS Dhoni is proceeding to 106 TA Battalion (Para) for being with the Battalion from 31 Jul-15 Aug 19."
The statement said that the unit will be posted in the Kashmir valley as part of the Victor Force. "As requested by the officer and approved by Army Headquarters; he will be taking on the duties of patrolling, guard and post duty and would be staying with troops," the statement read.
The 38-year-old holds the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army unit of the Parachute Regiment (106 Para TA battalion).
The honour was accorded to him by the Indian Army in 2011 along with Abhinav Bindra and Deepak Rao.
In 2015, the Ranchi lad became a qualified paratrooper after having completed five parachute training jumps from Indian Army aircrafts in the Agra training camp.
Ever since the culmination of the World Cup in the UK where India reached the semi-finals, speculation has been rife about Dhoni's retirement, but the team management has asked him to hang around as they groom Rishabh Pant with an eye on the 2020 World T20 in Australia.
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