Bengaluru: It is hard for cricketers to be away from their dear ones for long periods, especially during World Cup. Please do not be mistaken, for we talk not about players being away from their wives, but their pets.
Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has three dogs at his Ranchi home, but the puppy named Zoya is the one he misses the most. It is said that whenever he lands home, the puppy welcomes him and Dhoni spends the next half-an-hour exclusively with him.
Dhoni is now in Zoya's home town Bengaluru.
Indian pacer Zaheer Khan too loves pets. The Mysore Zoo, knowing very well the Indian cricketers' affinity towards pets, has introduced an animal adoption scheme. Following this, Khan decided to adopt a tiger called Madhukeshwar by paying an adoption fee of 100,000 rupees (Dh8,043).
Incidentally, Bengaluru denizens and former India players Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath are the ambassadors of the zoo's adoption scheme and have collected 3 million rupees for the zoo.
Adoration for pets is not confined to Indian players alone. South African bowling coach Vincent Barnes is also missing his dog which is named after the great Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar. "Sachin is not here. I am missing him already," Barnes told reporters.
