M.S. Dhoni enjoys a ride on his Harley-Davidson in Ranchi. Picture by Manik Bose

Ranchi, March 7: Team India ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is equally passionate about big shots and bikes.

His love for lofted shots is evident each time he takes guard on 22 yards. And the affection for two-wheelers becomes apparent when he returns home after foreign tours.

Return from the Down Under was no different. He took out his Harley-Davidson for its long denied spin within hours of his arrival at his hometown today.

The purpose behind taking out the Harley was to fit the new exhausts Dhoni had bought in Australia. He has also brought some batteries for his other power bikes.

Perhaps the first thing he did after hitting the home turf and seeking the blessings of his parents was to ride the Harley-Davidson, which he had bought soon after the World Twenty20 triumph.

Barring the bike episode, there was nothing new in Dhoni’s homecoming this time.

Fans thronged the airport, as they did when he came home after winning the ICC World Twenty20. They also saw their hero being escorted out of the terminus by sports minister Bandhu Tirkey and police to his Mitsubishi.

The ODI captain was given Z-category security. His Mitsubishi was sandwiched between a police pilot vehicle and an escort.

But unlike the last homecoming, this time Dhoni went straight to his home, where his pet Max, an Alsatian, was the first to greet him. The other pet, a Labrador, was waiting inside.

Even while Max was wagging its tail and was being patted by its master, Dhoni’s father came out.

Once the door was shut, the only message that emerged from behind those closed doors was that “he is too tired today”. That left the fans, and particularly the reporters, high and dry.

Dhoni is likely to spend a week or eight days in the state capital to give his aching limbs and overworked brains the much-needed break from cricket. But it will be difficult for him to dream of a total break in self-imposed anonymity because state sports minister Bandhu Tirkey has announced his felicitation on March 16 at the state’s three-day tribal and regional mela at Morabadi.