Dhoni takes aim with his air rifle at his Ranchi home. File picture

Bhopal, Dec. 16: Midas touch Mahi could well be the man with the golden gun.

The Indian cricket captain, awaiting a firearms licence in his home state, repeatedly hit the target at a shooting range in Indore last month, right after beating England by 54 runs in the second one-day international.

MS, who has won his first four Tests as skipper, which puts him on a par with South African Ali Bacher, is known for his fetish for fast bikes — he has five motorcycles, including the prized Harley Davidson 1500cc and a Royal Enfield Machismo 350cc.

Of late, though, the Ranchi Rambo has been taking the sobriquet literally: he has often been spotted practising with air guns on the terrace of his home while awaiting a licence from the Jharkhand government for a 9mm pistol.

Sources said Dhoni was looking for something to do after the Indore game on November 17 and suggested a trip to the cinema to see John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan woo Priyanka Chopra in Dostana. But Russel Radhakrishna, in charge of Team India’s logistics, reportedly advised against it.

Rajesh Vyas, the Indore deputy superintendent of police (crime) who was the security in-charge of Team India, said: “We had not done the necessary security checks, so team officials discouraged him from visiting the theatre.”

Dhoni then asked about other destinations in and around Indore. He was told the Border Security Force had an air-conditioned shooting gallery at its camp on the city’s outskirts.

Ever ready for an adventure, Dhoni paid a surprise visit to the Ujjain Road range and picked up at random an air rifle and a sports gun.

The Jharkhand government has asked for a character certificate for issuing the gun licence, but if it wants an endorsement of his shooting skills, the BSF is ready with that.

Deputy inspector-general Ramesh Singh said: “He took great interest in shooting and tried his hand at sports weapons. We were impressed by his marksmanship,” he said, adding that Dhoni fired from a .117 inch air gun with great precision, hitting the target — clay figures — regularly.

The cricketer’s handling of weapons surprised many BSF soldiers. “His accuracy startled and impressed us,” said an official.

Singh said Dhoni did not ask to try his hand at service weapons such as AK-47, SLRs or the Insas. “In any case, these weapons cannot be used by any unauthorised person,” the DIG said.

Dhoni’s interest in shooting puts him in the league of cricket icons J.W.H.T. Douglas, Denis Compton, Ian Botham and Kapil Dev as well as hockey great Rick Charlesworth, who have excelled in multi-sports.

Douglas was one of England’s most successful cricket captains between 1911 and 1925, but won the Olympic middleweight boxing title in the 1908 London Games. English great Compton played soccer for Arsenal and Botham was centre forward for Scunthorpe United, while Kapil has been a keen golfer. Olympian Rick Charlesworth played for the Western Australia cricket team, in addition to 227 international hockey matches for his country.

So will Mahi be competition for Olympic Gold winner Abhinav Bindra? The skipper, in Chandigarh — Bindra’s hometown — ahead of the second Test against England from Friday, could not be reached for comment. But his confidants in Ranchi said Dhoni is fast learning the nuances of using guns and can become a promising shooter given his ability to stay calm and concentrate hard.

(With inputs from Amit Gupta in Ranchi)