Ranchi loses its charm as the city prepares for its inaugural Test

A player of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s stature is bound to become the center of attraction wherever he steps in. He is one of the most mooned over personalities in the country and is an absolute craze among fans. The former Indian skipper brought the roof down when he tried his hands on playing drums in the opening ceremony of the JSCA International Stadium at Ranchi almost four years ago.

But the atmosphere seems to have died at the venue prior to India vs Australia Test match that gets underway from 16th March. The reason quite obviously being the absence of MS Dhoni, Ranchi’s beloved son. When Virat Kohli and his men will be engaged in a thrilling encounter with the mighty Aussies at Ranchi, Dhoni will be busy with the Jharkhand side that has advanced to the quarter-finals in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

As the city of Ranchi prepares itself for hosting its first ever Test match, the empty ticket counters at the stadium is a demonstration of the fact that how much local boy Dhoni is being missed.

“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 lack of interest from the crowd has led to the association distributing free passes to schools and institutions and the Secretary has also confirmed the presence of 10,000 students every day. Passes have also been given to Dhoni’s place of matriculation, Jawahar Vidya Mandir, from where he received his education.

“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 on the southwestern outskirts of the city.

While the association had a plan to pay tribute to Dhoni by arranging a grand ceremony the Vijay Hazare Trophy washed away all the plans. “Our team is in a crucial stage (in domestic one-dayers), and we want Dhoni to return with the Vijay Hazare Trophy,” he said.

The JSCA stadium has been host to 4 One Day internationals since its inauguration. It has also hosted T20Is and IPL matches. The decision of playing a Test at Ranchi marks the success of BCCI’s plans of bringing back Test cricket to its previous hype by spreading it among smaller venues.

“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.

MS Dhoni’s family has also been invited by the JSCA to be a part of the Test match on any of the 5 days.