Whistle Podu! TN man turns his house into ‘Home of Dhoni Fan’

CUDDALORE: R Gobikrishnan, 30, a market analyst in German online trading company Schatz Investment LLC in Dubai, was overjoyed when he learnt that Indian Premier League (IPL), 2020 was slated at Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. But his excitement did not last long as the organizers decided to hold the popular cash-rich championship without spectators in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic denying him an opportunity to watch his favourite cricketer – Mahendra Singh Dhoni in action.
He decided to fly back to India three weeks ago to spend his vacation to enjoy the live action of 2020 IPL on television with his family and friends in his native village Arangur in Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu. His favourite team, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the last year’s runner-up, faced losses this year and his favourite cricketer Dhoni too came for sharp criticism. It was then that he decided to do something extraordinary to boost the morale of fans of CSK and ‘Thala’ Dhoni.
He painted his 700sqft house yellow, the jersey colour of CSK, with portraits of Dhoni with the team’s tagline ‘Whistle Podu.’ He openly proclaimed that he will continue to be a diehard Dhoni fan irrespective of the backlash by the critics on the ageing cricketer and declared that his house is the ‘Home of a Dhoni fan’.
“Dhoni is one of the few cricketers, who can singlehandedly win matches from any hopeless situation with his power-hitting batting prowess. He has proved it several times, but of late both critics and fans are very harsh on him. As a diehard Dhoni fan, I wanted to extend my complete support and transform my house into a home of Dhoni fan. The response is terrific, and photos of my house uploaded in social media platforms were trending in the past two days with more than 1,500 comments from diehard fans like me,” said Gobikrishnan, who started playing cricket when he was in school.
He spent close to Rs 4 lakh for renovating his house that includes Rs 1.5 lakh spent on the makeover as a Dhoni fan’s home. His parents, three siblings, his wife and two sons, one aged seven and other five have become proud fans of Dhoni.
“The makeover is an attempt to tell the world that Dhoni has the support of lakhs of fans like me around the world not only in India and to put an end to the unnecessary criticism by the armchair experts and yesteryear players against Dhoni. We are sure that Dhoni will prove them wrong sooner or later,” he said.