CAPTION

Mahendra Singh Dhoni seldom loses chance to give the the ball a mighty whack, but the long-haired Team India stumper takes his own time when it comes to meeting appointments.

It happened (again!) the other day with officials of the Tata Steel sports department, who waited for Dhoni for well over two hours to hand over an envelope containing an appointment letter from the company. The 23-year-old prodigy kept sports officials waiting as he pumped iron at the Keenan gym.

The officials launched a search operation for Dhoni. Some called up the of Tata Steel?s human resource department, others checked at the hotel and some even contacted the authorities of the state cricket body.

Dhoni, oblivious to the sting operation, puffed at the gym as reporters and lensmen watched him. Exercises over, the Ranchi-based Dhoni merrily strolled into the sports department before the officials called off the mission.

Party politics

• When most politicians are worried about getting tickets for the Assembly, Jharkhand People?s Party chief Surya Singh Besra is more interested to know which party has fielded who against him.

Besra, with one eye on the Potka Assembly seat, could not resist expressing his mind when the BJP declared Menka Sardar as its candidate from Potka. He even went around telling people that by fielding Menka Sardar again, BJP has cleared the greatest hurdle he could face on his victory run.

Besra has even promised a party for some of his close friends in a couple of days!

Model amiss

• The much hyped IIFT-Vogue 2005 proved quite a disappointment for lensmen and scribes. The stunning performances of ramp starlets notwithstanding, Anupama Verma?s absence from the circuit was something the scribes could not digest.

Reporters, who mentally prepared themselves for an interview with the Boom Boom girl, saw their hopes shatter when organisers courteously apologised for her absence and conveniently passed on the baton to Mehr Bhasin, who discharged Anupama?s for the rest of the evening.

?Had Anupama been there, watching the show would have made sense. Let us hope that the dancers can save the day for us,? sighed a reporter, disappointment writ large on his face.