It was around five o’clock in the evening in Ranchi. And it was raining quite heavily in the city. With just some hours to go to catch a flight back to Bengaluru, there was a decision to make; whether to take a chance and visit Paramjit Singh, one of MS Dhoni’s best friends, or just sit back in the hotel and watch the tipper-tapper of rain drops. In such situations, perhaps the best advice one can get is, follow what your heart says. The right decision was made, and it was time to take an auto to the Paramjit-owned shop, Prime Sports.
In around 10 minutes, you were at the doorstep of the shop. At that juncture, Paramjit was involved in a lengthy discussion. While diligently waiting in line to introduce yourself to the shop owner, the eyes zoomed in on all the collections related to ‘Mahi’.
The right side of the shop is adorned with photos of a young Dhoni. The obvious ones to look out for are his famous hundred against Central Zone in the Deodhar Trophy and a smiling MS during the A tri-series in Kenya, both from 2004. On the left side, there is the much-talked about ‘BAS’ bat. Back in 1998, thanks to Paramjit’s efforts, BAS had ended up sponsoring Dhoni’s first kit.
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To track the pair’s friendship, we begin five years earlier. Paramjit observed that they started playing together for the Royal Club in 1993. The discussion slowly veered towards any fond memories Paramjit has of a young Dhoni cracking some powerful blows. Paramjit recounts a domestic match against Punjab, where Dhoni cracked eight sixes and six balls were lost in the process.
As Paramjit continued to share his anecdote from that particular game, one more showcase, comprising a slew of bats, caught the eye. The first one from left was related to Dhoni’s opening Test against Sri Lanka in 2005, and it has autographs of all the Indian players who played in that game. The second one is basically from December 2007. And then you end up discovering a bat with the Prime Sports sticker, which Dhoni has been using in practice sessions in the recent past. The bat has been inscribed with the following words, “Best wishes, Chotu Bhaiya”.
While running through all those special willows, you also wondered whether Dhoni still occasionally spends time with Paramjit at the shop? The shop owner quips that he doesn’t come to see him here, but he still visits his home to have a chat or two. He also shared his views about how Dhoni is still fit and can play for CSK for more than one IPL season.
By then, it was around 6 pm and Paramjit had to leave for his home. But just before he stepped out of his shop, Paramjit succinctly described the former India skipper, “Dhoni jaisa cricketer nahi milta. Wo jaisa tha, abhi bi waisa hi hai (you don’t get cricketers like Dhoni, he hasn’t changed anything, he is the same old Dhoni),” said ‘Chotu Bhaiya’.
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