Mahendra Singh Dhoni Makes His Maiden Para Jump at Agra Airbase
Mahendra Singh Dhoni made his first para jump from an Indian Air Force aircraft from a height of 1250 feet.
Far away from the cricket field, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has realised a dream. Famous for his helicopter shot, India's ODI and T20 captain made his maiden para jump from an Indian Air Force aircraft at the Agra airbase on Wednesday morning.(Dhoni Undergoing Training With Para Military)
Dhoni, a Lieutenant Colonel, has been training with the Air Force skydiving team at Paratroopers Training School in Agra and his first jump took place at 7 am. He leapt off an AN-32 aircraft from a height of 1250 feet. With a help of a parachute, it took 70 seconds for Dhoni to land on the ground.
Dhoni, who has been undergoing training at PTS since August 6, jumped with a canopy static line parachute from the aircraft and touched down at the Malpura dropping zone near Agra, Defence sources said. He has to undertake four more jumps from 10,000 feet, including one at night, to be a qualified parajumper.
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The World Cup-winning Indian captain is undergoing a two-week training for para jumping. Dhoni retired from Test cricket after the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne last year. He is still available for ODIs and T20s. The Indian team is currently playing a Test series in Lanka.
Dhoni and Olympic shooting champion Abhinav Bindra were conferred the honorary Lieutenant Colonel rank in September 2011. Sachin Tendulkar is also an honorary Group Captain in the IAF, while Kapil Dev is honorary Lieutenant Colonel in the Territorial Army.
"Why I got here is because of cricket. I would like to serve actively in the Army only after cricket. I don't want my cricket to suffer because that is something I am good at. Once my cricket career is over, I would definitely like to serve in the Army," Dhoni said in an interview after getting the honour from the then president of India, Pratibha Patil.
(With inputs from Rajeev Ranjan)