Four years ago the image of Mahendra Singh Dhoni playing drums and dancing was at the forefront of Ranchi Stadium's grand opening. But now as the city gears up to be India's 26th Test centre, the mood is strikingly sombre.
BCCL
When Ranchi makes its Test debut in India's
series-defining third Test against Australia for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in
two days time, the most famous son of city will be busy leading his state in
the domestic one-dayers in Delhi.
Having shed his 'whites' to prolong his career in
shorter formats of the game in late 2014, Dhoni will lead his team against
Vidarbha in the quarter-finals of Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday.
The intense build-up to the Ranchi Test,
notwithstanding, Dhoni is certainly going to be missed, something that is
evident from empty ticket counters in the city.
"It's all because of Dhoni that we're able to
host our first Test match here. His rise has put the city in international map.
But at the moment, we want him to do well in New Delhi. At the same time, we
hope Ranchi becomes lucky for Team India," Dhoni's childhood coach Keshav
Banerjee said.
The association has distributed free passes to
schools and institutions, including Dhoni's alma mater Jawahar Vidya Mandir at
Shyamali as the secretary said every day about 10,000 students will turn up.
BCCL
"Dhoni is the only icon here. Certainly the
crowd will miss him during the historic occasion. But we are trying our best to
fill in the stands. We expect to see at least 30,000 in attendance each
day," Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) secretary Debashis
Chakraborty said of the 40,000-capacity stadium at Dhurwa in the south-western
outskirts of the city.
If not a grand cultural programme that marked the
inauguration of the stadium on the eve of the India-England one-dayer on
January 18, 2013, the state association had originally planned a felicitation
for Dhoni.
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But Jharkhand's fine fortunes in the Vijay Hazare
Trophy played a spoilsport.
"Our team is at a crucial stage (in domestic
one-dayers), and we want Dhoni to return with the Vijay Hazare Trophy," he
said.
The state's original facility was at the Keenan
Stadium in Jamshedpur but with the rise of Dhoni, the Rs 180-crore stadium here
came up in very little time.
Within three years of its maiden ODI, the venue has
hosted four ODIs and one Twenty20I and the third Test will ink a new chapter in
the stadium's history.
BCCL
This has become a reality after the BCCI's
ambitious plans to take Test cricket to small centres to revive its dwindling
popularity.
"We are grateful to the Board for awarding the
Test status to Ranchi. We have put up hoardings across the city mentioning our
'first Test match on Jharkhand soil' with Dhoni's photo.
"He is our ambassador. Whenever he is in
Ranchi, he visits the venue and spends a lot of time here doing fitness
training or giving us valuable inputs," Chakraborty said.
The JSCA has also invited Dhoni's family members
who are expected to be present on any of the five days.
