Army Chief General Bipin Rawat approved MS Dhoni’s request to training with paramilitary regiment

Srinagar
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has approved MS Dhoni’s request to train with a territorial army battalion of the parachute regiment for 2 months after the India cricketer approached the Indian Amry with his request.
MS Dhoni, an honorary Lieutenant Colonel, would get to train with the Parachute regiment battalion. Part of the training is also expected to take place in the Kashmir valley but Dhoni would not be part of any operation.
Dhoni, who was awarded the honorary rank of a Lieutenant Colonel in 2011, belongs to the Territorial Army’s 106 Infantry Battalion. It is one of the two battalions that the Army has for the parachute regiment.
Notably, MS Dhoni had trained with the elite Para regiment of the force in Agra in 2015. The World Cup-winning former India captain also completed parachute jumps after the course 4 years ago.
Dhoni reportedly informed the Board of Control for Cricket in India that he would be unavailable for selection for 2 months. The India wicketkeeper-batsman has taken a sabattical after the team’s World Cup 2019 exit with a semi-final defeat to New Zealand in Manchester.
Notably, Dhoni made this commitment even before the start of Cricket World Cup 2019.
Dhoni was not considered for selection for India’s tour of West Indies, starting 3rd August. The senior selection commitee led by MSK Prasad met in Mumbai on Sunday to pick the ODI, T20I and the Test squads.
MSK Prasad confirmed that MS Dhoni was not available for the limited-overs series while adding that the selection committee is looking at giving more opportunities to Rishabh Pant across all three formats.
“He (MS Dhoni) is unavailable for this series. He has expressed his unavailability. Having said that, we had certain road maps till the World Cup. Subsequently, post the World Cup, we have laid down few more plans. We thought of giving as many opportunities to Rishabh Pant to see he is groomed. That’s our plan right now,” MSK Prasad told the press in Mumbai.
The selection committee chairman added: “We did discuss with him (Dhoni’s future).
“Retirement is purely individual. A legendary cricketer like MS Dhoni… he knows when to retire. But as far as the future roadmap is considered, that is in the hands of the selectors.”