Three possible reasons why Dhoni sends Pathan at No. 3

Doosra carried out a probe into Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s mind-numbing, logic-defying and self-destructive insistence at having Irfan Pathan batting at number three. While the decision has amused the Australians, bemused the Indians and confused even Pathan, here go three possible reasons behind this outrageously outrageous ploy:

1. Dhoni the thinking captain reckons the more a bowler bats, the better he understands a batsman’s mindset. Hence the decision to send Pathan at number three. If grapevine is to go by, Ishant Sharma will be asked to open from the next match, while S Sreesanth, because of his impeccable temperament, has been asked to watch Rahul Dravid’s video and transform himself in the same sheet-anchor’s mould.

2. Long ago, in his pre-endorsement days, Dhoni borrowed money fro Pathan and defaulted. With Greg Chappell igniting the ambition of becoming a complete all-rounder in him, an unscrupulous Pathan made Dhoni sign an agreement in which the captain had to permanently allot him the number three slot.

3. Disconsolate after losing Deepika Padukone to Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni met an astrologer in Ranchi who told him sending a holy man at number three is the only antidote to losing girl friend to best friend. Being the son of a muezzin, Pathan perfectly fit the bill and hence the decision.

Image: Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images

Bat, ball and Bollywood…Dhoni dating Deepika Padukone, or is it Priyanka Chopra?

Mahendra Singh Dhoni surely has a charm about him that transcends the boundary of cricket. Ask Deepika Padukone. Well, if grapevine is to be believed – well, calling it grapevine and then begging to believe it is too much -- this model-cum-actress and Dhoni share a mutual admiration. While she turned up to cheer for Dhoni’s Daredevils against Ponting’s Pirates (errr, does that sound racist?) in Saturday's Twenty2o tie, Dhoni is expected to reciprocate by watching Deepika’s debut movie ‘Om Shanti Om’.

Deepika, daughter of India’s lone badminton star Prakash Padukone, has become a household face, courtesy innumerable commercials and her soon-to-be-released movie against Shah Rukh Khan “Om Shanti Om”.

Dhoni apparently has a crush on the lanky beauty but there are also reports that link ‘Mahi’with Priyanka Chopra. And there also were reports that the dasher from Jharkhand has an admirer in Koena Mitra as well.

Some say there can’t be smoke without fire but I’m not insisting that these are to be believed. Gossips are gossips after all. Following is a list – I can’t call it comprehensive – of cricketer-actress matches, though I can’t take responsibility of authenticity!

Mohsin Khan – Reena Roy

Garfield Sobers – Anju Mahendra

Viv Richards – Neena Gupta

Sandeep Patil – Debashree Roy

Imran Khan- Zeenat Aman, Moon Moon Sen

MAK Pataudi- Sharmila Tagore

Zaheer Khan- Isha Sharvani

Sourav Ganguly- Nagma

Yuvraj Singh - Kim Sharma

Mohd Azhrauddin- Sangeeta Bijlani

Ravi Shastri-Amrita Singh

Kapil Dev-Sarika

Usman Afzal- Amrita Arora

Manoj Prabhakar-Farheen