Mahendra Singh Dhoni poses with pistols at the shooting range on Tuesday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, Nov. 6: If you thought Mahendra Singh Dhoni could only wield the bat like a scimitar, you surely have not seen him shoot — not with a camera or in front of it but with a real pistol.

The Team Indian captain is a good marksman, evidence of which came at the Sports Shooting Range in Kahilipara this morning.

With a few hours to spare before flying to Mohali on a chartered flight, Dhoni and some other members of Team India — medium-pacer Rudra Pratap Singh, spinner Murali Kartik, batsman Robin Uthappa, bowling coach Venkatesh Pradesh and trainer Gregory King — went to the range for some shooting practice.

Sourav Ganguly and S. Sreesanth opted for a more sedate leisure activity: a visit to Kamakhya.

After an hour-and-a-half in the shooting range, the verdict on the “Man of the Match” was unanimous: Dhoni was by far the best of the lot after around 400 rounds were fired from 25m, 50m and 10m.

“He hit the bull’s eye once in the 10m air pistol event and was above average in the 25m and 50m rifle categories,” said Dwijen Chandra Mahanta, the vice-president of the Assam Rifle Shooting Association (ARSA).

A pugnacious captain’s knock of 63 had fetched the dasher from Jharkhand the Man of the Match award in the first One-Day International against Pakistan at Nehru Stadium yesterday.

Nayanmani Gohain, the assistant secretary of the ARSA, said he was surprised by the shooting abilities of the cricketers. RP and King were the two best shooters after Dhoni.

Officials of the ARSA said Dhoni was an old hand at shooting. “ He even practised at a shooting range in Pakistan during the last tour. He gave our facility an ‘excellent’ rating,” Mahanta said.

Uthappa said he liked the feel of the pistol on his palm, but found the rifle easier to handle. RP, too, seemed more comfortable with the rifle.

Prasad said he trained in shooting in school. He said shooting was helpful in improving concentration.

On whether shooting was good for bowlers, Prasad said the two were vastly different. “ It does help take the mind off the game. The other benefits are that it helps improve concentration and breathing,” he added.

King said that time permitting, he was a regular at shooting ranges

For Uthappa, the shooting stint was a nice way to unwind. “ Since it was a day off, we thought of doing something productive.”

The cricketers handled 10 types of pistol and rifles, including the Walther conversional .22 and .32 pistols, Anchusz .22 peepsight rifle and Styer 117 air pistol.

The hosts and the guests parted on a happy note, the cricketers and their trainers thankful for having found a diversion from the high-profile series against Pakistan and the officials for having got the opportunity to interact with them so closely.