Picture of MS Dhoni signing a cricket bat for a soldier in South Kashmir goes viral

New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS): Former Indian captain MS Dhoni has kicked-off his stint with the Territorial Army and an image of the 38-year-old has gone viral on social media in which he is seen signing a cricket bat for one of the soldiers.

Dhoni has taken a two-month break from the Indian team and is currently with the 106 TA Battalion (Para) of the Indian Army.

The unit is deployed in south Kashmir region as part of Victor Force and the cricketer is expected to be with them till August 15.

Earlier, images of Dhoni being accorded the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 2011, and of him travelling to Srinagar with one of his manager in a flight, were also widely circulated across various social media platforms.

"Lt Col Dhoni arrived here today and has joined his unit," one of the officials had said on Tuesday. 

Earlier, Army chief Bipin Rawat said that Dhoni completed his basic training and expressed faith that the cricketer would perform all his duties.

"When a citizen of India wants to don the military uniform then he has to be prepared to fulfil the task for which the uniform has been assigned to him. MS Dhoni has carried out his basic training and we know that he will be able to accomplish the task," Rawat said.