After 13 years, Dhoni on a train again

The star cricketer had worked as a ticket examiner

Jharkhand cricket team captain M.S. Dhoni with his team on a train at Hatia Station in Ranchi on Wednesday.

On Tuesday night, Kriya Yoga Express, which runs everyday from the lesser-known Hatia station to Howrah, had a special guest on board: former India cricket captain M.S. Dhoni, who used to serve the railways as a ticket examiner before attaining star status.

He was travelling with his 22 Jharkhand teammates to play the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy, starting on Saturday at the Eden Gardens.

Expectedly, South Eastern Railway officials had to make special arrangements for the smooth travel of their former colleague.

In order to beat the crowd at the busy Ranchi station, Dhoni and his teammates travelled to Hatia, a station 7 km ahead of the Jharkhand capital, by bus and boarded the train there.

Even at Hatia, prior to the train’s departure at 9.10 p.m., security personnel had a tough time keeping fans and co-passengers away from Dhoni. “Passengers, especially women and girls, tried to reach to him at railway stations,” a senior railway official told The Hindu .

For Dhoni, listed among India’s 100 richest celebrities by

Forbes last year, the second AC journey after a gap of 13 years was a throwback to the days when he was struggling to make his mark as a cricketer. The iconic player posting a selfie with some of his teammates on Instagram spoke volumes of his emotional attachment with the railways, which he served between 2001 and 2005.

Nobody, of course, knew whether Dhoni was awake and what crossed his mind when the train passed Kharagpur junction, where he served as a ticket examiner, at 4 a.m. “We are honoured to have Dhoni, who was also our employee, to have him as our esteemed passenger,” said chief public relations officer of South Eastern Railway Sanjoy Ghosh.

When the train reached Howrah at 6.30 a.m., the railways had made security arrangements for the smooth exit of their star passenger. Dhoni took another bus ride with his teammates to a city hotel.