‘Three separate flights, two-hour drive in biting cold’ – Mandeep Singh narrates how MS Dhoni attended his wedding

Mandeep Singh, the Punjab cricketer, recently said how MS Dhoni gave him a pleasant surprise by attending his wedding ceremony back on December 25, 2016. The 28-year-old from Jalandhar tied the knots with Jagdeep Jaswal, a young make-up artist. The grand ceremony took place in his hometown Phagwara and Mandeep was over the moon after getting to see Dhoni.

In fact, initially Dhoni seemed to have lied to Mandeep, saying that he would be in New York at that time. The Punjab cricketer narrated how troublesome it could be to travel from Ranchi to Amritsar. Mandeep quipped that Dhoni had to take three separate flights and a two-hour long drive.

He took so much effort to come: Mandeep Singh

“My wedding was in December 2016, I invited Mahi bhai. He didn’t tell me whether he would come, he said he needed to go to New York. But he came to my wedding and surprised me. For him to take time away from his busy schedule and come, it was a memorable moment for me,” Mandeep told to Sportskeeda.

“From Ranchi to Delhi to Amritsar is three separate flights and then he had to take a two-hour drive during the harsh fog and biting cold at that time. He took so much effort to come even though I had played only a few matches with him. That’s his simplicity, that’s his greatness,” he stated.

Mandeep heaped praises on the 38-year-old Dhoni, calling him a humble character. He said that Dhoni was happy-go-lucky and never showed off his stature as a cricketer.

“I can’t describe how it was in words. It was a dream come true. Mahi bhai is very down to earth. We used to play PS together. He doesn’t show off his status or that he is a legendary cricketer. I remember he would always eat with me, we would order desi food like biryani, sit down and eat. It was great to spend time with him,” he added.

Mandeep played three matches for Team India back in July 2016 in the tour of Zimbabwe. There he got the privilege of playing under Dhoni’s leadership. In those games, he managed 87 runs with a top score of an unbeaten 52.

To his dismay, he hasn’t gotten further chances to don the national jersey. Recently, he played some crucial knocks for Punjab in the 2019-20 edition of the Ranji Trophy.