Team India’s Cricket Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni completed his first parachute jump off an Indian Air Force aircraft as part of his training with the Territorial Army. This morning, Dhoni took the plunge at an altitude of 10,000 feet from an AN32 aircraft and touched down at the dropping zone in Malpura, Agra, with the help of a canopy static line parachute.
Dhoni, an honorary Lieutenant Colonel with the Territorial Army’s 106 Parachute Regiment, has been undergoing training at the Paratroopers Training School (PTS) for the last couple of weeks. Dhoni attended classroom lessons and toughening exercises to learn the modus operandi and to prepare him body for the jolts he will receive after he jumps off the aircraft.
Dhoni has already been given the maroon beret, a sign of a commission in the elite Para Regiment. The leader of the Men in Blue will be given the reputed Para Wings insignia once he successfully completes five para-jumps, including one at night.