*MSDhoni The Untold Story Updates* Teaser Trailer Out! Pg. 44 - Page 18

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RANCHI: It was sometime in November in the year 2000 when two lads from Jawahar Vidya Mandir Shyamli etched their names in record books of Ranchi district's school cricket league.

Opening the innings for JVM Shyamli, the two teenagers scored a blistering 450 run partnership. In the process, the two picked up double centuries each - a record intact even to this day. Of the two, one lad went on to become the one of the biggest superstars of Indian cricket - Mahendra Singh Dhoni.


Almost 15 years on, Captain Cool is heading towards the end of his cricketing career. But his fans, friends and acquaintances in Ranchi are taking a nostalgic tour down memory lane as the shooting caravan of the cricketer's biopic - MS Dhoni: The Untold Story- gets on a roll in Mahi's hometown.

"That innings against Kairali School is a part of the city's cricketing folklore. There are several superhuman innings Mahi played in the grounds as a school cricketer," said Muzaffar Ali, member of the umpiring panel of Ranchi District Cricket Association (RDCA). Ali and his band of umpires have been roped in by the crew for recreating the same match, to be enacted by Sushant Singh Rajput in reel life.

The filming crew on Monday locked down the Ranchi University Cricket Ground. Curious commuters, and students from the university and neighboring colleges were thwarted by private security guards from watching the shooting. Some managed to climb atop the low boundary walls to peep inside while others took position on nearby terraces. Local cricketers were rallied in as 'extras'. Long queues were made outside the gates by fans while the film crew distanced itself from the media.

"Before playing for India, Mahi played with at least 4,000 boys in the town. Big hitting separated him from the rest and every one has some memory of him," Ajmal, who played with Dhoni on a few occasions, said.


With the filming party set to camp in the state capital through November and likely to pop up at several locations associated with the man, people who have known the dashing cricketer ong before the world did are sure to experience deja vu. Perhaps, Ranchi is reliving Dhoni one last time before he calls a day.