Former India paceman Vivek Razdan remembers the “under-22 ka ladka” he met at Bhagalpur while playing a tournament. Struggling to find a proper wicket-keeper for his National Sports Cricket Club (NSCC) team, he was introuduced to Dhoni by Bihar skipper Mohammad Tariq.

On a wicket where the ball wasn’t bouncing too much, Razdan says, Dhoni put his hand up to open the innings and stroked his way to a stunning 123. After that, Dhoni became a regular at the National Stadium — fine-tuning his skills and playing tournaments during the off-season.

NIS coach MP Singh says Dhoni is very particular about visiting the National Stadium nets whenever he’s in Delhi. This time, however, the India one-day skipper would be greeted by renovation being undertaken for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. “Once when he was going through a lean patch after breaking into the national team, Dhoni cancelled his Diwali trip back home, and came to the National Stadium nets every day for practice,” he says, adding: “Not only that, Dhoni has helped a lot of trainees in several ways.”

Singh gives an example of Dhoni’s simplicity. “He came with us to play a tournament in Gwalior after he became an India player. The organiser had given him a separate car, but Dhoni refused, saying ‘India player hu toh kya hua, mein team ke saath hi jaaonga’ (so what if I’m an India player, I’ll go with the team).”

Razdan adds: “Dhoni is a very sentimental boy. He doesn’t forget his old friends easily and National Stadium holds a special place in his heart. He has plenty of friends there and he’s in close contact with many of them. He knew them before he was famous, and he hasn’t forgetten.”