Mumbai: A packed hall at the St Regis Hotel in Lower Parel waited for India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Photographers had lined up long before his arrival at the entrance of the hall. Dhoni walked in with Ajinkya Rahane wearing the Rising Pune Supergiants team jersey. People in this city have seen the Indian skipper only in the Chennai Super Kings kit until now - and hence it was the first time for everyone to see Dhoni in the new attire.
Dhoni, who will captain the new team Rising Pune Supergiants, waved to the photographers.
He posed in whatever angle they wanted, with some photographers asking him to turn left and others right. He smiled and obliged.
The press conference was organised by Gulf Oil Lubricants India Limited (GOLIL) to announce their association with Rising Pune Supergiants.
Dhoni expressed his happiness at being associated with a sponsor that supports major English football team Manchester United and said: “Thanks for choosing us, thanks for showing confidence in us.
“Now it is our responsibility to reflect the kind of confidence they have shown in our team. I would like to thank the team owners. We welcome you all into the family of cricketers and cricket managers and thanks for being our sponsors - we are very proud of you as you are as of us. Let us move ahead and do well for our franchise.”
Rahane assured that his team will do well.
“Thank you so much for sponsoring us. I am sure we will do well this season and make you proud and the whole country proud,” he said.
Dhoni feels his team has a good combination of players.
“We have players like Saurabh Tiwary and Albie Morkel, it is a balanced side,” he said,
Dhoni is delighted to have Stephen Fleming back as his coach and the inclusion of Kevin Pietersen has also thrilled him.
“Pietersen’s presence will be special. He is a top class batsman,” said Dhoni.
Ravi Chawla, the Managing Director of GOLIL, said: “We have been associated with winning teams be it Aston Martin Racing, Chennai Super Kings and Manchester United. With the leadership of Captain Dhoni we are sure that Rising Pune Supergiants will produce top performance.”
Dhoni acknowledged the remark with a smile.
With Steven Smith, Faf Du Plessis and Ravichandran Ashwin, this team looks really formidable.
In the bowling department they also have Irfan Pathan, Mitchell Marsh, Ishwar Pandey, RP Singh, Scott Boland, Ashok Dinda, Jaskaran Singh, Ankit Sharma, and Deepak Chahar.
Journalists wanted Dhoni to answer more questions but he left quickly. There will be time for that when the action starts.
