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Within a day of Dhoni's engagement to Sakshi Singh Rawat, the couple got married at Vishranti Resort, located in the usually sleepy Lower Kandoli village, around 25km from Dehradun. In keeping with a romance that was kept tightly under wraps for almost two years, the wedding too was a fiercely private affair, with only family and close friends in attendance.
There were barely 50 guests, though some 10 dishes had been prepared. Given Dhoni's son-of-the-soil, feet firmly grounded image, the cuisine was predictably all-Indian, with nary an exotic dish in sight.
Dhoni reportedly wore a midnight blue sherwani. Ashish, the man who got the mare that Dhoni rode to the wedding, was ecstatic at having the Indian skipper as a client. Said he, "Dhoni asked me the name of the mare. I told him it had two names, Rani and Bobby. He liked the second better. At the end of the ride, he gave me Rs 5,001."
According to sources, the jaimala ceremony took place at 9.30pm followed by the pheras at 11pm. Dhoni wore a sehra, said to be priced at Rs 10,000, made by Charandas of Dehradun's famous Paltan Bazar.
The resort, spread over 125 acres, was ringed with two-tier security. The inner ring comprised private security guards while 400 policemen from Uttarakhand cordoned off the resort. Mediapersons were stopped 2km away from the resort. Sakshi's cousin, IPS officer Abhilasha Bisht, was said to be helping supervise the security arrangements.
Actor John Abraham a close friend of Dhoni's who will be hosting a party for the couple in Mumbai on Wednesday was among the celebrities present. Around half an hour before the auspicious time, Dhoni on horseback and other guests on foot moved to the bride's place, located on the same resort's premises.
Of the Indian cricketers, only Suresh Raina, R P Singh, and Harbhajan Singh were present. Raina, who's known for his fancy footwork on the cricket pitch, was also reported to have displayed it with much gusto during the baraat procession.
BCCI bigwigs were also invited, but most couldn't make it as they were busy inaugurating indoor cricket facilities in Ranchi. The notable exception who did turn up was N Srinivasan, vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements which owns Chennai Super Kings, the Indian Premier League team captained by Dhoni
Dhoni has been linked with a string of actresses in the past. But tongues started wagging about his involvement with the low-profile Sakshi, now 21, when they were first seen together in Aurangabad. Sakshi was also seen with Dhoni on November 19 when they went for a rickshaw ride on her 21st birthday. Such privacy is a luxury that she's unlikely to get, now that she's married to 'Captain Cool'.
Source: Times of India |
