MS Dhoni would have joined army if…

If he had not made a mark in cricket, MS Dhoni would have become an officer in the Indian Army. “Had it not been for cricket, I would have been serving the elite Indian army as a soldier. The love for an army life began when I happened to visit a camp in Uttarkhand as a young boy. But when I took up cricket, it turned out as my profession,” the India skipper, a lieutenant colonel in the Territorial Army, told officers and cadets of the Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai.

Dhoni, clad in his full military uniform, arrived at the OTA campus on Wednesday morning. He saw various training sessions featuring men and women cadets who are undergoing a gruelling training for 49 weeks prior to their commissioning in the Army. Later, he addressed the faculties and cadets about leadership qualities.

Territorial Army, a second line of defence, commissions eminent persons in the country as an honour. Kapil Dev was the first cricketer to be commissioned in the TA with the rank of a lieutenant colonel. Abhinav Bindra, the Olympic gold medalist, and Dhoni are the other sports personalities to be honoured with the ranks of lieutenant colonels. Sachin Tendulkar had been made an honourary Group Captain of the Indian Air Force.

Col VC Ajith, faculty, OTA, told DNA that the campus was thrilled by Lt Col Dhoni’s visit. “It is a tribute to the soldiers and officers of the Indian army that persons like Dhoni take time off from their schedule and come calling. This will help in inculcating a spirit and passion for army life among the youngsters,” he said.