'Auntie, main Dhoni' - When MS Dhoni lost his sleep after his bat owner's wife couldn't recognize him

Somi Kohli, owner of cricket manufacturing company ‘Beat all Sports’, commonly known as BAS has revealed how special his bond is with Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The 66-year-old confessed that one of the dealers of his company’s equipment Paramjeet Singh called him and praised a young cricketer from Ranchi. He also insisted Somi on sponsoring the kit for the Ranchi lad.

The BAS owner confessed that as the cricketer was not an established one, it took 6 months for Paramjeet to convince him for sponsoring the teenager. Dhoni belonged to a middle-class background and buying a cricket kit with limited resources was always a challenge. However, Somi didn’t know that within a few years, the Ranchi teenager will become one of the most successful cricketers of all time.

An emotional Somi also expressed that he is grateful that the company became a part of his success. The bond between the cricketer and them has been for 22 long years now. Notably, characters of Somi and Paramjeet were also seen in Dhoni’s biopic movie (MS Dhoni: The untold story).

“As a cricket manufacturing company, we are always on the lookout for new talent and our dealer Paramjeet Singh had been calling me consistently to tell about this young cricketer from Ranchi. After six months of him trying to convince me, I sent the kits to Mahendra Singh Dhoni in February 1998, and it has been a 22-year-long association with him for us. When I got to know about his retirement yesterday, I could not believe it first and could not sleep for hours. He has been a gem of a cricketer and we are glad that we could also play a part in his journey so far,” said an emotional Somi while speaking to The Indian Express from Jalandhar.

Dhoni couldn’t sleep for hours after my wife didn’t recognize him: BAS owner

BAS has also been supporting established cricketers like Kapil Dev, Madan Lal, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Sachin Tendulkar. Before the series against Pakistan in 2005, Dhoni went to his place and spent a night there, Somi has an interesting story to share from that time.

“In 2004, I first met him in Chandigarh and months later he came to Jalandhar to visit our factory. Dhoni stayed at my home and when I told my wife Manju Kohli, she asked, “Who is he?” The next day, when I met Dhoni, he told me he could not sleep for hours thinking about my wife’s words. Some months later, when he scored the century against Pakistan, Dhoni called us at 11 in the night and asked me if he could talk to my wife. He told her, ‘Auntie, main Dhoni.’ My wife told him, ‘Beta, now the whole world knows who Dhoni is.’ That was the bond we shared,” said Kohli.

Dhoni is Kohinoor of Indian cricket’

After making his India debut, the stumper found instant success and that led him to sign contracts with different companies. BAS was still sending him bats throughout his career. The Ranchi lad appreciated the gesture shown by Somi years back when Dhoni was nowhere near what he is now, by asking for BAS logos on his bat for 2019 World. According to Kohli, it is Dhoni’s way of thanking the equipment company.

“Last year, prior to the World Cup in England, Dhoni asked us for BAS logos in blue and it was his way to show gratitude. He could have earned crores with a deal but he wanted to show his gratitude. That makes him the Kohinoor of Indian cricket,” he concluded.