MS Dhoni spends ‘lawn time’ at home amid lockdown

With the whole sporting world is halted due to the novel coronavirus, several players are posting updates about their self-isolation activities to keep their fans engaged. In normal circumstances, cricketers would have been preparing for the Indian Premier League but COVID-19 has scrapped all those plans. Currently, cricketers are finding ways to stay fit while being confined to their homes in the hope of life returning to normalcy.

While other cricketers are posting videos of their exercise routines, former India captain and CSK skipper MS Dhoni is seen mowing his lawn. CSK posted an image on Twitter where ‘Thala’ is mowing his lawn in his farmhouse in Ranchi.

“Lawn time, no see! #Thala #WhistlePodu,” Chennai Super King’s Twitter handle captioned the post. The picture was originally shared by Dhoni’s wife Sakshi on her Instagram account.

Lawn time, no see!#Thala #WhistlePodu ??
PC: @SaakshiSRawat pic.twitter.com/UsWbkU6k0E

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 9, 2020

MS Dhoni has not played competitive cricket since the semi-final match against New Zealand last year. Dhoni was supposed to captain Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2020 before it was postponed.

Recently, former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra talked about Dhoni’s rise. He believes MS Dhoni signalled his arrival at the international stage after a rather jittery start when he smashed his first century against Pakistan at Visakhapatnam. India’s former captain scored his first international exactly 15 years ago in an ODI against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam. He smashed 148 off 123 balls and Nehra’s four-wicket haul later in the match helped India win by 58 runs.

As per Nehra, this innings gave the management the confidence that India had found a good wicket-keeper batsman at a time when they were looking to relieve Rahul Dravid of wicket-keeping duties.

“That innings got the team to believe that we too could have a prolific wicket-keeper batsman,” Nehra told the Times of India. “Dhoni didn’t have a great time in his initial matches. But when a confident man like him gets an opportunity and cashes in, then it’s hard to pull him back.

“Unwavering self-confidence is Dhoni’s strength. That innings was like he had tasted blood and he yearned for more. He hardly ever batted at No. 3 after that innings but he had made a statement that day. We lost all the remaining four matches in that series but we discovered Dhoni.”