Yoga guru prays for Dhoni

Indian wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday stole the limelight from Swami Ramdev as thousands of his devotees cheered their new cricket hero when he went to collect a document from the yoga guru and seek his blessings in Ranchi.

Dhoni, who went to collect from Swami Ramdev the document of a plot allotted to him by Jharkhand Government, said he would further improve his game to make his state and country proud.

"I will try to better my performance in future games, and make Jharkhand and my country proud," the dashing wicketkeeper said after garlanding Ramdev as the crowd demanded to hear a few words from their son of soil.

Dhoni, who reached the venue early this morning, said he is lucky to get blessings from the yoga guru.

Dhoni received the document from Ramdev after the completion of the two-and-half hour yoga session.

Chief minister Arjun Munda, assembly speaker Inder Singh Namdhari, chief secretary M K Mandal and several other dignitaries looked on as the cricketer received the 'patta' (document).

Referring to Dhoni's much discussed hair-style, Ramdev said "[Pakistan President] Pervez Musharaf Dhoni ke baal pe fida ho gaye [became fond of his hair-style]... Mera bhi lamba baal hei [I have long hair too]... But what is important is one's self-confidence as that alone leads to the top".

"Dhoni has not emerged overnight, he reached this day with his self-confidence, strong will and rigourous efforts," he said.

Ramdev presented two sets of books to Dhoni and prayed for his long career.

The wicketkeeper-batsman's parents also garlanded the yoga guru.

The Jharkhand government had announced the allotment of land six months ago before his stellar role in India's 4-1 win against Pakistan.

He totalled 219 runs at an average of 219 and an explosive strike rate of 136.87 in the just-concludes series against Pakistan.