MS Dhoni couldn't sleep for hours after my wife didn't recognise him: BAS bat brand owner Somi Kohli
While people associate MS Dhoni’s bats with the black ‘RBK or blue ‘Reebok’ stickers displayed on them, the willow is manufactured by Beat All Sports (BAS). Somi Kohli, the owner of the sports equipment company, recently recalled an incident when his wife failed to recognise MS Dhoni.
“In 2004, I first met him in Chandigarh and months later he came to Jalandhar to visit our factory. Dhoni stayed at my home, and when I told my wife Manju Kohli, she asked, ‘Who is he?’ The next day, I met Dhoni. He told me he could not sleep for hours thinking about my wife’s words,” owner Somi Kohli told the Indian Express.
This was just before the 2005/06 Pakistan tour in which he scored 219 runs in the ODI series and his first Test hundred (148) in Faisalabad.
“Some months later, when scored the century against Pakistan, Dhoni called us at 11 in the night and asked me if he could talk to my wife. He told her, ‘Auntie, main Dhoni [Auntie, I am Dhoni].’ My wife told him, ‘Beta, now the whole world knows who Dhoni is,’” Somi revealed.
MS Dhoni’s 22-year journey with BAS
The former India captain's partnership with BAS dates back to 1998 after their dealer, and MS Dhoni’s friend, Paramjeet Singh convinced Somi about the potential in the then 17-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman from Ranchi.
“After six months of him [Paramjeet Singh] trying to convince me, I sent the kits to Mahendra Singh Dhoni in February 1998, and it has been a 22-year-long association with him,” Somi said.
Both the characters were seen in his biopic ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’, in which ‘Chotu bhaiya’ aka Paramjeet Singh was seen having financially and morally supported the CSK skipper during his formative years.