Former India captain shows his patriotic side and quick reflexes by picking up the tri-colour from a pitch invader before it touches the ground during the T20I game against New Zealand at Hamilton
Dhoni with the Indian flag (Pic: Screengrab courtesy Starsports)
In a gesture that has earned praises from netizens, Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Sunday showed his patriotic side when he prevented the Indian national flag from touching the ground during the 3rd and final T20I against New Zealand at Hamilton.
The incident took place in the first innings of the match when the New Zealand team was batting. A delirious fan carrying an Indian flag interrupted the game by invading the pitch apparently to touch MS Dhoni's feet. The trespasser was able to reach MSD and touch his feet but in doing that, the Indian flag in his right hand almost brushed the ground. The legendary wicketkeeper-batsman, who is known for his lightning reflexes behind the stumps immediately grabbed the flag from the fan ensuring that the tri-colour did not hit the ground.
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New Zealand won the match by four runs and wrapped up the series 2-1.
Here is the moment when Dhoni showed his love for the Indian flag:
Tht's M.S.D. for You..#Respect for National Flag ðÂÂÂÂÂu00c2u009fÂÂÂÂÂu00c2u0087®ðÂÂÂÂÂu00c2u009fÂÂÂÂÂu00c2u0087³ ..âÂÂÂÂÂu00c2u009d¤
— Loco (@LocoLaddoo) February 11, 2019
Must watch & Retweet..#JaiHind #Dhoni #Mahi
Retweet guys.. pic.twitter.com/3J2bh3Pftb
MS Dhoni's gesture for the Indian flag won him a lot of hearts on Twitter and garnered quite a few reactions:
Although india lost the match but dhoni won the heart of millions of indian.#NationFirst #dhonism pic.twitter.com/oSYb5PpDLJ
— Anurag karn (@AnuragAbhishe12) February 11, 2019
M S Dhoni we are proud our nation Flag lifted. High not touched to. Ground Sir Apne Army Ka Gourav badhai sir Slam Apako.
— Nijaling Sadashiv Daddi (@DaddiSadashiv) February 11, 2019
MS Dhoni wins heart with his love for Indian flag: Watch #Respect #Thala @ChennaiIPL https://t.co/NPAXgVHxqB
— Avinash Sharma (@avinashrcsharma) February 11, 2019
While Dhoni was exceptional behind the stumps in the Hamilton game, he could not succeed with his bat just scoring two runs.
The game was also Dhoni's 300th in the shortest format, including the 199 IPL games he has featured so far.
He has played in 96 T20 Internationals, scoring 1548 runs at an average of 36.85. Dhoni also has 56 catches and 34 stumpings to his name.
MS Dhoni's critics had questioned his place as wicketkeeper-batsman in the Indian team for the upcoming 2019 World Cup as the other two stumpers in the fray Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik were in good form. However, Dhoni, being the champion he is, silenced all doubters with match-winning knocks vs Australia and New Zealand in the recent ODIs to cement his place.
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