Fans Urge MS Dhoni To Shave Off His Beard and Make A Comeback to Cricket

With an audience of over 2.5 billion fans spread across 180 countries, cricket is the second most popular sport in the world. It is most popular in England, Asia, and Australia, and migrant patterns over the last few years have helped to spread cricket’s popularity worldwide. With the increasing popularity of the sport in the west, marketers and cricket betting sites have begun to look at cricket for opportunities to target audiences who are otherwise difficult to reach.

In 2019, search interest for cricket increased 37 percent, while interest in online cricket betting increased 28 percent at the same time. During the tournament, page views for Cricket Betting Tips and other sites that offer the best tips and live updates on matches increases dramatically, and the average fan visits these sites two to three times during the match to get tips and view scores.

When it comes to cricket betting online, over half of the betting happens on betting apps, though this varies by region. Mobile activity peaks for fans in the US, among whom 70 percent will use their mobile devices to place bets.

In recent times, the coronavirus pandemic hit cricket hard, and all the major cricket events across the globe have been cancelled. Most cricketers like MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli are at their homes with their families, while others are using this time to interact with their fans. But cricket fans are more than eager to see their favourite cricketers on the field again.

Fans have a request for MS Dhoni

Recently, a video featuring MS Dhoni started surfacing over the internet. But, Dhoni was looking totally different from his usual self. The former Indian cricketer was sporting a fully grown white beard and seemed much older than a 38-year-old-guy.

After seeing the Jharkhand stalwart this way, his fans became very disappointed as it seemed like Dhoni is nearing his retirement. While other cricketers are spending the lockdown time to groom themselves, the veteran hasn’t done that at all. Dhoni is focusing fully on family and spending the quarantine time in Ranch home with his wife Sakshi and daughter Ziva.

After coming across his aged look, one of his fan pages on Instagram suggested MS Dhoni shave his beard off. The fan page requested Dhoni to shave off his beard and make a comeback into the Indian team.

Most fans expressed their disappointment on all the rumours floating in the media, which say that Dhoni should continue his break and retire now. According to the ardent MS Dhoni fans, it will be a perfect move by the wicket-keeper batsman to shave off his beard and play the ‘winning stroke’.

Interestingly, Dhoni’s mother has also reacted to the son’s image with grey bread. “Yes, I have seen his look but he is not that old. No child is ever old for her mother,” she said.

Dhoni took a break from cricket after the last year’s World Cup semi-final against New Zealand. He was all set to lead the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings this year. However, the coronavirus pandemic led to the indefinite postponement of the league. Also, there were talks that MS Dhoni will play the 2020 ICC T20 World Cup. However, it’s likely that the tournament may get shifted to 2022, and it’s practically impossible for the veteran to play till 2022.