Mahendra Singh Dhoni, is a former Indian international cricketer who captained the Indian national team from 2007 to 2016, is known for his game play. The right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper, is one of the highest run scorers in One Day Internationals (ODI) with more than 10,000 runs scored and is considered the best "finisher" in limited-overs formats. Sadly, he has declared his retirement on 15th of August, 2020. Soon after his announcement, from Vicky Kaushal to Shashi Tharoor, several Bollywood celebrities and politicians took to social media to react to the news. Now, one of his well-wisher Soni Kholi has reacted to his retirement.

Soni Kohli, a 66 year old owner of "Beat All Sports" which is a leading manufacturer and supplier of sports goods in Jalandhar, has recently spoken about his bond with Mahendra Singh Dhoni. In an interview with The Indian Express, he said, "As a sports goods manufacturing company, we are always on a lookout for new talent. In the year 1997, Mr. Paramjeet Singh who is one of my dealers, approached me to talk about Dhoni, the young boy from Ranchi."

Mr. Kohli also said, "Dhoni belonged to a middle class family and it was really difficult for his family to purchase a cricket kit for him. Moreover, at that time Dhoni was not a known personality. Hence, it took me six months of convincing to take the decision of sponsoring Mahi. In February 1998, I sent a cricket-kit to him, and since then it has been a 22-year-long association with him. However, I had no idea that in no time he would become one of the successful cricketers of the nation. Recently, when I got to know about Mahi's retirement, I could not believe it at first and could not sleep for hours that night."

While Kohli's association with Dhoni began in 1998, it was not till 2004 that he met the cricketer during the JP Atray Memorial cricket tournament at Chandigarh. The same year, Dhoni made his debut for India against Bangladesh at Chaattogram in December 2004 and visit Kohli at his factory in Jalandhar for bats before the series against Pakistan in 2005. Dhoni went to his place and spent a night there, Somi has an interesting story to share from that time.

"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, when I met Dhoni, he told me he could not sleep for hours thinking about my wife's words. Some months later, when he 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.' My wife told him, 'Beta, now the whole world knows who Dhoni is.' That was the bond we shared," said Kohli.

After making his India debut, the stumper found instant success and that led him to sign contracts with different companies. BAS was still sending him bats throughout his career. The Ranchi lad appreciated the gesture shown by Somi years back when Dhoni was nowhere near what he is now, by asking for BAS logos on his bat for 2019 World. According to Kohli, it is Dhoni's way of thanking the equipment company.

"Last year, prior to the World Cup in England, Mahi asked us for "BAS" logos in blue colour and this was his way to show respect to us. He could have earned crores with a deal with other companies, but he wanted to show his gratitude. This behavior of Mahi makes him The Kohinoor of India' adds Soni.

Notably, the characters of Soni Kohli and Paramjeet Singh we're also seen in Dhoni's biopic film 'MS Dhoni: the untold story'.