Yet again during a match, a delirious fan ran towards former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to touch his feet. Carrying the Tricolour in his hand, he broke through the security cover and rushed towards Dhoni. But as he ran, the Indian flag that he had in his hand almost fell down and was about to touch the ground when Dhoni with his lightning quick reflexes caught the flag just in time and grabbed it from the fan.
The incident took place during the third T20 International against New Zealand in Hamilton on Sunday. Facing a target of 213 runs, India lost the match by four runs to lose the three-match T20I series 1-2 to New Zealand.
The love of the fan was reciprocated on Twitter with his countless followers showering applause for his patriotism.
14th time, Fan breached security authorities and touched Dhoni's feet!! And that too in NZ ___!!@msdhoni ___#MSDhoni pic.twitter.com/qSveVWtTad
— MSD _ (@Vidyadhar_R) February 10, 2019
First thirteen instances were in India, But this is in NZ ___!!
I'm out of my words _!! His Craze is on a Whole new level ___!!@msdhoni #NZVSIND #NZVIND #MSDHONI pic.twitter.com/KPF80sw32i
— MSD _ (@Vidyadhar_R) February 10, 2019
In any situation never allow anyone to forget the dignity of our National Flag, salute to MS.
— Abir Mahapatra (@_AmiAbir) February 10, 2019
such a patriotic gesture.. just observe.. first thing he bends down and takes the country's flag from a fan.. just salute his love towards the country's flag..
— Sakshi (@sakshi_tweetz) February 10, 2019
The way he pulled flag from touching the ground. Loved it!!
— Albert Robin Hood (@AlbertRobinHoo1) February 10, 2019
Ek hi to dil h....kitti baar jitoge @msdhoni..... Respect __
— Atish Amrit (@ablazeatish) February 10, 2019
After recording their biggest ODI series win in New Zealand soil, a first first-ever series win would have been icing on the cake but the hosts held their nerves to pull off a thrilling victory. New Zealand denied India a perfect finish by clinching the T20 series 2-1 with a narrow win on Sunday.
Dhoni, as always, was exceptional behind the stumps. However, he scored just two runs in his 300th match in the shortest format, including the 199 IPL games he has featured so far. He has played in 96 T20 Internationals, scoring 1548 runs at an average of 36.85. Dhoni also has 56 catches and 34 stumpings to his name.
In the post-match conference, Indian all-rounder Vijay Shankar who looks up to Dhoni said that the former captain has done a lot for the team. "For someone like me, I try and learn from watching each and every player we have in our team because everyone has done something in the past and they have won matches for the team especially Dhoni, who has done a lot for the team. I definitely look upto him," Shankar said.
