Team of female commandos to protect cricketer from his fans

(GETTY IMAGES)

When the India cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni went for a haircut in his home town of Ranchi a couple of years ago, so many adoring female fans showed up that the police had to be called.

So when it was announced that he would be returning home once again for three weeks' rest, the local police decided to take pre-emptive action. Their solution for dealing with the unwanted attention? Give him his own team of female bodyguards.

The 15-strong squad of commandos that have been assigned to protect the player have recently completed training that included warfare and counter-insurgency tactics. Now they will be required to protect the cricketer from fans who will not leave him alone. "It's certainly an enviable assignment," one of the giggling female officers told The Times of India as they stood on guard outside the player's bungalow. "Especially since many of our colleagues are usually assigned to escort politicians."

In a country that is utterly mad for cricket, Dhoni, the captain of the one-day squad, has achieved something approaching cult status. As blessed with his looks as he is with his skills as a batsmen and wicket-keeper, the unmarried 27-year-old was recently the target of two attempts by women fans to throw themselves at him. Even though he already receives "Z-class" security – the highest available and which is normally reserved for the Prime Minister and other senior politicians – police decided to give him the additional female force.

"The women constables have been deployed partly by chance and more by design," said Ranchi's police chief, M S Bhatia. "Although we do not discriminate on the basis of gender between our constables, in Dhoni's case, women cops have been specially trained to ward off unwanted overtures from female fans."

The aggressively-styled cricketer, who advertises everything from hair gel to motorbikes, recently pulled out of a series in Sri Lanka complaining of fatigue after a punishing three months that had seen him participate in the first season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a tournament in Bangladesh and the Asia Cup in Pakistan. He decided to return to Ranchi, in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, where he grew up, to rest and recuperate.

Two years ago, when he was in Ranchi and went to get a haircut, the local salon that he had frequented when he was younger was mobbed by fans. After stopping to chat with the barbers, Dhoni opted to call the police rather then fight his way through the throngs of fans who had gathered.

Since then, the matter of Dhoni's hairstyle has become a public affair in more ways than one. Having previously sported long, flowing locks, last year he opted for a shorter cut in the style of the Bollywood film star John Abraham. The decision to copy Abraham and even employ his stylist to ensure he got the look he wanted, resulted, typically enough, in widespread media coverage and internet commentary from fans.

While cricket has always had a huge following in India – every scrap of dusty space is usually filled with young boys playing cricket and dreaming of emulating their heroes – the recent launch of the IPL saw the hysteria levels soar even higher. Mixing India's best players with international talent and combining the two with sharp advertising and lots of money for promotion, experts say the limited-overs league is set to change the face of world cricket.