MS Dhoni’s wife Sakshi had hit out at trolls after reports of the former India skipper donating ‘just INR 1 lakh’ to help people in times of COVID-19 crisis emerged. Dhoni’s ardent followers, however, remained unaffected by the news reports having known the depth of patriotism that the iconic cricketer has for his country. Now, Dhoni’s manager and childhood friend Mihir Diwakar has claimed that the 39-year-old has said no to doing any brand endorsements until life returns to normalcy in a bid to show solidarity with those affected by the pandemic.
The novel coronavirus has hurt everyone. Be it those owning multinational businesses or a daily-wage worker. The economy of the country has slumped to its worst while thousands have lost their lives in this battle against the virus.
Dhoni, who has been at his Ranchi farmhouse since the lockdown started, is reportedly doing farming at his home and has pledged against doing any commercial activity until the country recovers from the pandemic and normalcy resumes.
“Patriotism is in his blood, be it serving for the country (in defence) or (farming) the land, he’s very passionate about it. He has about 40-50 acres of farmland and he is busy growing organic crops like papaya, banana there,” Diwakar said.
“He has stopped brand endorsements and has said that till life comes to normal, he won’t do any commercial activity,” Diwakar, who also runs the MS Dhoni Cricket Academy under the name of Aarka Sports, asserted.
Dhoni, who turned 39 a few days ago on July 07, saw wishes galore on social media as the entire Indian cricketing fraternity and his fans celebrated the special occasion. The Jharkhand-lad, however, remained away from social media even on this day and kept his birthday celebrations low-key.
A video of him riding his bike in Ranchi and waving at the fans who had gathered outside his farmhouse to get a glimpse of him on his birthday did emerge on social media. But that was all the fans got to see of Dhoni on his birth anniversary.
