MS Dhoni doesn’t need protection, he’ll protect the citizens: Army Chief

MS Dhoni, the legendary Indian cricketer, won’t be a part of the national team for the tour of the West Indies, which starts next month. Even as there are speculations over when he will hang his boots from international cricket, Rishabh Pant will be India’s number one wicketkeeper from now onwards. Meanwhile, Dhoni will now be serving his nation, this time as army personnel.

The Jharkhand-born is also a Lieutenant Colonel (Honorary) in the Parachute Regiment of the Territorial Army and is set to be serving his unit from July 31 to August 15. The veteran will be with the unit in the Kashmir Valley as a part of the Victor Force.

He will be staying with the troops and will have the task of patrolling guard and post duty. The same was made clear after a request from the officer and approval from the Army Headquarters. There is also a concern over MS Dhoni’s security as he is a civilian.

“He will be protecting a lot of other people”

However, Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat feels that Dhoni doesn’t need security as he is equipped enough to perform his duties. “I don’t think we will need to protect him, he will protect the citizens and garrison entrusted to his task,” the Army Chief was quoted as saying in NDTV.

“When a citizen of India wants to don the military uniform then he has to also be prepared to fulfill the task for which the uniform has been assigned to him. MS Dhoni has carried out his basic training and we know that he will be able to accomplish the task.”

“In fact, he will be protecting a lot of other people because he will now be performing with the 106 Territorial Army battalion (Para). It is a very good battalion and they have been performing line of communication duties, static protection and he will be a part of it,” he added.

Dhoni has taken a two-month break from playing cricket in order to serve his country. In 2015, he became a qualified paratrooper after having completed five parachute training jumps from Indian Army aircraft at the Agra training camp.