Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Final Captaincy Match Main Focus In First Practice Tie At Brabourne
Jan 8, 2017 at 5:55 PM
The first of the two warm-up games between India A and England at the Brabourne Stadium would have been a normal affair for the officials of the Cricket Club of India (CCI), the owners of the ground. However, ever since they came to know that it’ll be Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s last match as a skipper, they are trying their best to make the occasion a memorable one.
India’s most successful skipper, Dhoni stepped down from the limited-overs captaincy on January 4. The warm-up game will be his last time as a captain and the BCCI is leaving no stone unturned to make it a special occasion. The Hindustan Times has reported that the official broadcasters have requested the BCCI for a live telecast of the day-night tie.
Meanwhile, speaking to the daily, a CCI official said:“Till now we were preparing as just another warm-up match. But now, with the match being shown live and being labelled as Dhoni’s last tie as skipper, we are expecting at least 15 to 20,000 people to flock the stadium. We will have to request for additional police force to control the crowd. The atmosphere is going to be like an international match and we have to live up to our high standards.”
Dhoni is not the only big name who will play the practice tie as Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra are also a part of the 12-member team. The CCI official also said they were contemplating the idea of issuing tickets for the match but dropped the idea due to lack of time.
Earlier, when chief selector MSK Prasad was asked whether giving Dhoni the captaincy was BCCI’s way of giving farewell to the country’s most decorated skipper, he had said: “He is the best guy to look after the youngsters. We know what Mahi does. It is not about him stepping down or anything like that. He is a captain by nature; he leads from the front. Dhoni went to Zimbabwe also for the same reason and that is why he is named India-A captain.”
The second warm-up match against England will also be played at the Brabourne Stadium on January 12 before the series starts on January 15 in Pune.