The Mahendra Singh Dhoni Cricket Academy is set to see the dawn

Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni is set to walk into a new venture later this week. On Saturday, November 11, Dhoni will inaugurate his first global cricket academy- The Mahendra Singh Dhoni cricket Academy, in Dubai.  He will also conduct a special cricket clinic with the budding cricketers the next day. He will become the only active Indian cricketer to have his own cricket academy.

Dhoni’ company has collaborated with the Dubai-based Pacific Ventures to set up the academy at the Springdales School campus. Earlier it was reported that Dhoni is likely to extend his base and there is a possibility of budding cricketers learning the tricks and pointers of the game from the man himself.

“The academy is in perfect shape and it will be a big thing for UAE cricket do have an academy run by a legend like Dhoni,” Parvez Khan, the director of Pacific Ventures, told Sportstar.  “This is the first step. We will be trying to expanding the academy in parts of South Africa and the United Kingdom too,” Khan said.

Dhoni under-fire

The 36-year-old was criticized after India faced defeat in the 2nd T20I of the recently concluded 3-match T20I series against New Zealand. But skipper Virat Kohli has backed the veteran in the time of crisis. “First, I don’t understand why are people only pointing him out, I’m not able to understand this,” Kohli said on Tuesday after the third T20I against New Zealand in Thiruvananthapuram. “If I fail three times, no one is going to point fingers at me because I’m not over 35. The guy is fit, he is passing all the fitness tests, he is contributing to the team in every way possible, tactically on the field, with the bat. If you look at the series against Sri Lanka and Australia, he did really well and in this series he hasn’t got much time to bat.” Kohli said.