Former India captain M S Dhoni used a train journey to reach Kolkata to play Vijay Hazare trophy after a gap of 13 years. Dhoni, the captain of the Jharkhand side, along with his teammates and support staff boarded the Hatia-Ranchi-Howrah Express to reach Kolkata. Dhoni was offered flight ticket but the skipper preferred a train ride over a 60-minute flight along with his colleagues.
They took the train at around 9.45pm from Hatia. The station had been put on high alert. Top Railways officials were waiting for the special guest. “Our state association was a bit iffy about Dhoni going to Kolkata by train. We suggested him to take a flight. But he refused. In fact, he said, “it’s better to take a train for Kolkata.” He came to the station in the team bus. He said, “when I’m the captain, I must travel with the team.” He didn’t do train journeys for the last 13 years and, maybe, wanted to revisit his past,” Jharkhand team manger PN Singh said, adding: “No demonetisation effect is involved here, because the team travelled by plane throughout the season.”
The Hatia railway station didn’t witness much fan frenzy. Some people requested Dhoni for autographs and selfies before he was ushered into his designated coach and berth, by the Railway Protection Force (RPF). His co-passengers were awestruck but didn’t create trouble.
“Obviously, they had been asking for Dhoni’s autographs and requesting for selfies, but all the passengers were very dignified.”
But by the time the train pulled up at Ranchi station, news had spread like wildfire and the platform was overcrowded. Everyone wanted to see their hero but the Railway police and officials managed the situation very well. Dhoni was all smiles. He obliged almost every co-passenger. The catering staff and train attendant turned up and requested for pictures with him. It continued till 2’o clock in the morning, but Dhoni never said no,” Singh said.
In the twilight of his career, it was sort of back-to-basics for the legend. Train journeys from Ranchi to Bokaro used to be his daily routine in 1997-98, when he was a junior-level cricketer. Then he became a ticket collector at Kharagpur before rising to world fame through his cricket exploits. For Dhoni, India’s greatest-ever limited-overs captain, train journey were an extreme rarity. Dhoni's teammate Saurabh Tiwary said they never expected their captain to travel by train.
“We were told about this two days ago and this just shows the greatness of the man; his simplicity even after achieving everything cricket can offer. This was for the first time we travelled with Dhonibhai in a train and we thoroughly enjoyed it.” The train arrived at Howrah Station early morning and the RPF escorted him to the car, onwards to the team hotel.
