#INDvAUS: Post Dhoni era, Ranchi makes its Test debut

"I will miss Test cricket. It is the most difficult form of cricket. People do miss the sport they have been associated with for so long," Mahendra Singh Dhoni said last year before India's tour of the West Indies, which was the start of 17 Tests that Virat Kohli and Co. were to play in nine months.

The long home season also includes six new Test centres, four of which – Indore, Rajkot, Visakhapatnam and Pune – have been completed. The next Test, and the penultimate one in the last one year, will be at Dhoni's home ground, the Jharkhand State Cricket Association International Stadium here. However, Ranchi's most popular resident will not be part of the historic occasion of his city hosting its first ever Test, becoming the 26th venue to host a five-day international game in the country.

However much one would have played for the country in whatever formats, playing a Test match in front of one's home ground gives a player that unique feeling. The pride of performing in front of one's family with close friends and relatives also watching from the stands comes second to none.

As recently as last week, India opener KL Rahul experienced it, scoring two half-centuries and winning the Man of the Match award and helping his side win at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

To play a Test at a ground one has grown up learning the tricks of the game is what players die for.

But, the 35-year-old Dhoni will not have any such privilege of playing a Test in front of his home fans. His only consolation will be in leading India in Ranchi's first ODI (in 2013 against England) and only T20I (in 2016 against Sri Lanka).

Dhoni has played an integral role in the development of the JSCA International Stadium, though. His inputs on the pitch preparation right from the time the stadium took shape has been immense, said the current curator Shyam Bahadur Singh. "Dhoni knows everything about the pitch that it's his sixth sense," said Singh.

The stadium is so dear to Dhoni that Singh said, "Whenever he is in Ranchi, he comes to the stadium and avails the club facilities. He plays snooker, uses the swimming pool, and plays TT. It is a misconception that whenever Dhoni comes to the stadium, he thinks about the pitch. But he likes to indulge himself in other things and enjoy," said Singh.

Dhoni was here until a couple of days ago giving his inputs on the pitch preparation for Ranchi's first Test. However, he will be away playing for Jharkhand in the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinals against Vidarbha in New Delhi on Wednesday.

India's chief coach Anil Kumble said that Dhoni will be missed in Ranchi. "We miss everyone (who have retired from the game) but for the people of Ranchi it will be different without MS. I hope MS will come sometime during the Test. I know he is away playing the Vijay Hazare knockouts for Jharkhand but we hope that at some stage during the five days of the Test, he will come here. It will definitely be different. But the Indian team is playing, so I am hopeful that the people of Ranchi and Jharkhand will come and support Test match cricket because it is the first Test here and it is a historical moment. I am confident a lot of people will come and watch the Test," the former India captain and leg-spinner said here on Tuesday.

Dhoni is held so dear in the capital city of Jharkhand that local taxi driver Shamim said that Dhoni has placed Ranchi in the world map that people identify the city with Dhoni and not with anything else.

If Jharkhand go the full distance in the Vijay Hazare knockouts, with the final scheduled on Sunday, the fourth day of the Test here, Dhoni can be part of the historical occasion only on the last day on Monday, should the Test go that far.

But, Dhoni has rarely expressed his emotions and is a contented man. Whether he misses being part of the Test in his hometown or not, the city of Ranchi will certainly miss him.

Kamal Kumar, local builder who has not missed a single game in Ranchi, said it is not a good feeling that Dhoni is not part of the momentous occasion. "We will miss Dhoni a lot. The entire stadium will look for Dhoni, come March 16, and he will not be there. It is not a good feeling at all. That said, it is a proud moment that Ranchi is hosting its first Test."

Another avid Dhoni fan, contractor Rajesh Gupta, said that the whole of Ranchi would have been happier had he retired from Tests after playing one last Test in his home ground. "As a player and as a captain, we will miss Dhoni. Without Dhoni, it looks like there is no match. If he had played one last time in Ranchi's first Test, we all would have been happier. It is four years since Ranchi became an international ground. Pity it did not get Test status when he was still playing," Gupta said