Sharjah: There is a lot to learn about teamwork and sacrifice from the Army, according to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the India and Chennai Super Kings skipper as he explained his love for the army camouflage colour on his gloves on Saturday.
Dhoni, along with his CSK teammates Ravindra Jadeja, John Hastings, Matt Henry and Ashish Nehra, enthralled the students of the Amity University at the Oberoi Hotel through a meet-and-greet programme.
Answering to a query from a student on why does he wear camouflage-coloured gloves so often, Dhoni said: “It is a universal colour, especially worn by the army. They have to go through a lot and whenever we meet them, they still have a big smile on their faces. Imagine at one time they are in Siachen’s minus 50 degrees and in another time they are in Rajasthan’s 50 plus degree weather and still they greet you with a smile. I feel it is a very tough life that they live and there is a lot to be learnt from them.”
Giving a rare insight into little known things about his approach to the sport, Dhoni said: “They reveal how a team should work. A lot is there to be learnt from them and it also teaches you to practise very seriously. In the army, whatever happens in the Special Forces they always talk about how serious you should be when practising.
“It teaches us how to be serious in life and at the same time, how to enjoy the challenges that are thrown at you because all these challenges are there to make you a better person and at the same time it makes life more interesting. If the challenges are not there, life will be very plain and simple. This is the reason why I love my camouflage gloves and whenever I travel, I try to wear some camouflage colour to show that we are with them.”
Dhoni also shared his philosophy with the students on how to be successful. “All of us make mistakes, be it a businessman or sportsperson. All of them will make mistakes but the duration between the two mistakes is what makes them special. The longer the duration is between the two mistakes, people call you the best.”
Dhoni even urged students to play all sports rather than focusing only on one. “As a sportsman, we have a different body and the body gets tuned up very differently. So I see no reason why you should not be able to play other sport. If you start in school, you should not say that I will only play cricket, badminton or lawn tennis. I feel you should participate in as many sporting events as much as possible because when you are in Class six, seven or eight, you never know what you may turn out to be as a professional. You may become a doctor later on or may be a sportsman.”
Dhoni then went on to say how he approached other sports disciplines. “I had played a lot of badminton and I can play any sport but that does not mean that if I play hockey, I will represent India but atleast I can play that sport. This is very important because you learn a lot of things when you play sport and being competitive is one of them.”
Dhoni also revealed the importance of playing any sport in the right spirit. “The instinct that you don’t want to lose against an opposition is something very important in life. When it comes to sport, people talk a lot about the spirit of the game which mean you want to win the match against the opposition but at the same time, you want to do it through legal means and not take steps that goes beyond the spirit of the game.”
