Narain Karthikeyan's joy after India's Twenty20 World Cup triumph is slightly more than an average cricket lover as his friend MS Dhoni led the team.
NEW DELHI: Narain Karthikeyan's joy after India's Twenty20 World Cup triumph is slightly more than an average cricket lover.
After all, insists the ace driver, it was his friend and fellow speed merchant Mahendra Singh Dhoni who led India to the glory.
It's not just a commercial that Karthikeyan shares with Dhoni. The fastest Indian on wheels counts country's new cricket sensations among one of his pals and says while India's triumph in the Twenty20 World Cup came as a personal celebration for him, the icing on the cake was the fact that it was under his friend's captaincy that India lifted the inaugural title.
"We have been known to each other for the last three years and we have remained in touch since then. He's a great guy and a good friend," he said on Tuesday.
While Karthikeyan earned his stripes as the first Indian driver in the elite Formula One league, Dhoni has a penchant for collecting fast bikes and that common love for speed binds the duo together.
When at home in Ranchi, Dhoni never misses an opportunity to move around in his bike, even when he was abroad on national duty, Dhoni had got a motorbike delivered to his house. That was the seventh such machine in his impressive collection and the cricketer himself cleans them.
Raring to kick-start Team India's new A1 GP session, which starts with the first race at Zandvoort in Holland on September 30, Karthikeyan said he watched last evening's see-saw match against Pakistan and thoroughly enjoyed it.
"I did not get to talk to him after the final but it was a great match. India had a disastrous World Cup in the West Indies but under Dhoni, they managed to erase that nightmare," he said.
Asked how he rated his friend in his first tournament as captain, Karthikeyan said, "Dhoni was inspirational."
During discussions between them, cricket, however, hardly gets a mention, said Karthikeyan. Instead, both feel comfortable chatting about bikes and cars.
"We don't discuss cricket as such. Rather, we can go about talking about cars and bikes."
Asked if Dhoni asks for tips on how to master the machines, Karthikeyan said,"No, not at all. I may drive fast but I think he is a better rider than me."
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