No one could be flying higher than Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the moment. The World Cup winning captain, however, wants to fly higher. In fact, he wants to fly the Sukhoi fighter jet — “The best fighter plane to fly,” Dhoni said while kicking off the IPL season for his successful Chennai Super Kings but his thoughts seemed fixated on speed.
“Speed thrills me,” Dhoni confessed. “I love aircrafts, I love bikes,” he smiles. His knowledge of aircrafts might someday even equal his talent for managing a cricket team on the field in the highest echelons of the sport. “I know it is a 4 to 4.5 generation aircraft, the very best we have. This is my opinion. But if I am not allowed to fly it, I might go away to Russia and I tell you they have great fighter planes there,” Dhoni threatened, in jest of course.
The Indian Air Force is unlikely to disappoint him. The top brass have already said arrangements are being made for Dhoni to be the co-pilot in a Sukhoi fighter soon. Maybe, Dhoni was hinting that he would like to be at the controls. It is debatable whether the Air Force would allow that but the co-pilot’s seat is his for the taking.
A lover of fast bikes with his own enviable stable of Kawasaki Ninja, Hondas and other machines with vroom in them, Dhoni revealed that flying has been his long cherished dream. “I was in the NCC air wing in my school. I have friends in the Services. I will consider it the happiest day in my life when I fly the Sukhoi,” Dhoni said with a child-like simplicity about his obsession. Like the only other ODI World Cup winning captain of India, Kapil Dev, he is also keen to become a member (Colonel) of the Territorial Army. “It’s an honour to be in the Services,” he says. While the process to induct him is on, he is visibly excited about the prospects of wearing the Colonel gear.
Having started out in his sportsman’s life and career as a railway ticket examiner who could also bat a bit and keep wickets for the local Railways team, Dhoni is soaking in the adulation that is pouring in after India won the World Cup last week in Mumbai. Asked to explain his role as the captain and management guru of the team, Dhoni said he believed in keeping it simple.
“Cricket is a simple game,” he explained. “But the more you think about it, the more complex it becomes. It is a game that is complicated by your thinking. I told the (Team India) boys — Don’t go with the World Cup hype, just keep it simple. They knew when to practice, when to rest. They were backing each other and enjoying each other’s success. I think that was the key to our victory,” he added.
While the nation is on an MSD mantra, Dhoni is already onto his next assignment — the IPL. There is always a rush to his life, a speed that no meter could capture even his fastest bikes and the mach-2 fighter planes.
Although many would get a kick out of the many ‘highs’ of life, MSD gets a kick just out of being himself, the simple village boy who went on to conquer the cricket world. He is also a kid at heart. He enjoyed thoroughly the souvenir his IPL teammates had for him — a scale model of the car that won the Le Mans 24-hour race. And then he ran to keep his date with his fast life. The entire nation is all set to cheer their Captain Cool in the IPL as well, and the World Cup glory has only catapulted him to dizzying heights.