MS Dhoni may be one of the most followed celebrities in India but he stays away from the limelight whenever he isn’t playing cricket. The former India captain is hardly active on social media which makes fans wonder what keeps Dhoni busy when he is away from the game.
Shedding the light on the same, former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who recently retired from cricket, revealed that Dhoni is a big fan of Esports and loves to play games like FIFA and PUBG.
Harbhajan even claimed that Dhoni spends 15 times more time playing Esports than he does playing cricket.
Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh recently revealed an activity on which Mahendra Singh Dhoni spends most of his pastime. Harbhajan, who recently retired from cricket, said Dhoni spends most of his time away from cricket by sitting in front of his gaming devices.
“Yes, every cricketer in the Indian team plays esports. Our former captain, MS Dhoni, he plays esports 15 times more than the cricket he plays,” he told India Today Gaming.
Stating that esports is a “big thing”, Harbhajan said post cricket matches, Dhoni is found the majority of times in the hotel room where he spends time playing esports like FIFA.”We cricketers used to form teams and play these first-person shooter games online,” he added.
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Harbhajan pointed out that they used to play esports just for fun, but now people are making careers in it. The spin great said that if anyone is extremely passionate about esports then they should give their 100 percent to it.
Currently one of the most prestigious CS:GO tournaments are underway, wherein top CS:GO teams, including Natus Vincere, Team Vitality, G2 Esports, and Gambit Esports, are competing for a $1 million prize pool. The tournament began on February 15 and will conclude by February 27.
Last year, India’s Total Gaming lifted the World Esports cup 2021 title. They defeated opponents from Pakistan and Nepal in the Global Finals.
Esports is slowly returning to the pre-pandemic state, and organizers have announced tentative dates of the various tournaments which are slated to be held this year. Esports Charts has compiled a calendar of the top 25 most anticipated esports events of 2022.
Talking to IndiaToday Gaming during the award ceremony of the World Esports Cup (WEC), Harbhajan said, “Yes, every cricketer in the Indian team plays Esports. I have also played. Our former captain, MS Dhoni, he plays Esports 15 times more than the cricket he plays. After matches, if you see him in the hotel room, he spends his time playing Esports. Sometimes, FIFA, sometimes PUBG, sometimes other games. Esports is a big, big thing. We cricketers also used to form teams and play these first-person shooter games online.”
Harbhajan also highlighted how the Esports industry has seen a big boom in recent times and nowadays people are even making a career out of it as well.
For us it’s a new thing…we used to play for the sake of entertainment. But people are making a career out of it now. There are analysts for them, there are discussions around it and even coaching is provided to make them understand the nuances of the game. Not only the players but many people are now associating with it in order to be something. Numbers are going to be massive. This is just the start of Esports. It will grow in unimaginable ways,“ said Harbhajan, who announced his retirement from all formats of cricket recently.
