On Saturday when the Jharkhand government announced a piece of land to Mahi for the proposed academy, his dreams came true. "I have been waiting for a nod of the state government to open a sports academy in Ranchi for the past couple of years and now the dream seems to be coming true," the Team India skipper told TOI after a state-organized felicitation ceremony. He admitted that he got an offer from the Delhi government to open a sports academy but declined it humbly.
Although deputy chief minister Sudesh Kumar Mahato announced a piece of land for Dhoni's proposed academy, a decision on providing infrastructure to the facility is still pending. "We can sit together and discuss the requirements," Mahato said.
Dressed in black shirt and a pair of stone wash blue jeans, Mahi iterated his interest in opening a sports academy in Ranchi that would cater for every discipline of sports and not only cricket.
"I want a sports academy to be operational soon in addition to the infrastructure that we now have in the form of mega complex constructed for the National Games," he said clarifying the choice of sports discipline would depend upon interest of the people here. "We have to conduct a study before opening the academy to ascertain the students' interest in sports because that is the age from when grooming should begin," he said.
The Team India skipper was felicitated for the tremendous feat of winning the World Cup after 28 years. "Though I wished to come to Ranchi after winning the Cup, the IPL fixture didn't allow me. But now, I am happy to be back in my home town," Dhoni said after being felicitated by Mahto.
Sitting with wife Sakshi on his right and deputy chief minister Mahato on left, Mahi was in his usual cool on Saturday evening when he was being showered with praises at the official felicitation ceremony organized by the state government.
Giving credit to the performance and fitness of all 15 boys of his team for the splendid performance in the World Cup win, Mahi said he tried to make maximum use of the expertise of each individual in the team. "I may be a great manager in the eyes of onlooker but I simply handle my 15 boys along with seven to eight support staff," he said.
Asked if he was satisfied with the level he achieved in cricket, Mahi modestly said touching the summit was easy but maintaining the position was tough. "We have achieved success in all three forms of cricket and now the challenge is to maintain the position. After winning the World Cup, the level of expectation has gone high."
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