22 July,2019 11:41 AM IST | | mid-day online desk
MS Dhoni
India's World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni, who is also an honorary Lt Colonel in the Territorial Army, will be training with parachute regiment battalion for two months.
A top Army source said on Sunday that Dhoni's request has been approved by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat.
"The request has now been approved by the Indian Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat and the honorary Lt Col would train with the Territorial Army battalion affiliated to the Parachute regiment," Army sources said.
The wicketkeeper-batsman would now train with the Parachute regiment, a part of which is expected to take place in Jammu and Kashmir, sources said.
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The Army, however, will not allow Dhoni to be part of any active operation, sources mentioned.
Dhoni, along with Abhinav Bindra, was conferred the rank of honorary Lt Col in the Territorial Army in 2011 for their contribution to the sports field. Both of them were piped-in by the then Army Chief General V K Singh, who is now a minister in the Modi government.
Dhoni is affiliated to the 106 infantry battalion of the Territorial Army. The battalion is attached to the Parachute regiment.
After being conferred the rank, Dhoni trained in Agra in 2015. The Lt Col performed five jumps.
His love for the uniform has been visible many times.
While receiving the Padma Bhushan award last year, Dhoni donned his Army uniform.
MS Dhoni's love for the Indian Army was in full flow during the World Cup 2019. The player was seen wearing the 'Balidaan' badge on his wicket-keeping gloves, however, ICC, later on, asked him to remove the badge from his gloves owing to the sensitive nature of the issue.
On one occasion, the former Indian Cricket team captain was photographed with Colonel Santosh Mahadik - who got martyred during an operation in Kashmir.
Twitteratis were in awe of the former Indian captain taking a sabbatical from cricket and joining the Indian army. Here are some interesting reactions:
With inputs from ANI
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