Dhoni with army chief VK Singh in New Delhi on Tuesday

New Delhi, April 5: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina met the army chief, General V.K. Singh, at his residence this evening. The World Cup winning captain was immediately offered an honorary commission.

Kapil Dev, who led India to the World Cup in 1983, was conferred the honorary rank of lieutenant colonel in the Territorial Army two years back. Last year, Sachin Tendulkar was conferred the honorary rank of group captain in the Indian Air Force.

A group captain is a notch higher than lieutenant colonel in the military pecking order. Its equivalent in the army is the rank of colonel.

Dhoni’s rank is yet to be decided but he took up the offer promptly.

“I have many friends in the army,” he is said to have told General Singh. “I would love to be associated with it,” army sources quoted him.

General Singh complimented Dhoni for his leadership and for the performance of the Indian team in the World Cup.

In the last three years, the armed forces have often given honorary ranks to celebrities — Malayalam film star Mohan Lal was also conferred a rank — largely to make service in the military attractive.

The armed forces have a shortage of officers — there is a shortfall of more than 11,000 in the army alone — and they are trying to attract youth who increasingly opt for corporate sector jobs.

The conferring of the honorary rank and the invitation by the army chief to Dhoni and Raina is also a thanksgiving gesture. Soldiers posted in remote border posts frequently tune into the radio or tap into their own telecommunication network (in the absence of television) to monitor India matches, especially matches against Pakistan.

During Saturday’s final in Mumbai, the Siachen brigade headquarters sent frequent updates to soldiers in the Saltoro Heights, where no radio or television is available, through the army’s wireless network.

Asked about how they would decide on the rank to be conferred on Dhoni, army sources said the decision would be processed by the adjutant general, a lieutenent general rank principal staff officer to the army chief, who is tasked with personnel matters.

The recommendation would be put up to the army chief and the government before Dhoni can wear the olive greens and the epaulettes.

On Monday, Dhoni met Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik. The director of the Services Sports Control Board, Group Captain M. Baladitya, is a friend of Dhoni’s and a former manager of the Indian cricket team. Dhoni was visiting Baladitya for dinner and the air chief immediately asked to meet him.

Dhoni and Raina were invited by Gen V.K. Singh to meet his family and staff at his residence at Army House.