MS Dhoni’s trip to Delhi for a match became a little more dramatic than he’d have liked. The Indian limited overs captain and his Jharkhand teammates who were staying in a hotel in south west Delhi had to be evacuated after a store in their hotel complex caught fire.
Reports said that a fire broke out in a store in the Welcome hotel complex located in Dwarka on Friday morning. While the hotel was unaffected by the fire, the residents of the hotel were evacuated as a safety measure.
Dhoni along with his teammates was having breakfast at the team hotel, ITC Welcome, when they were evacuated. Around 540 guests were staying at the hotel, according to police sources.
“When we were having breakfast at the restaurant…suffocating smell of the smoke alarmed us. We ran for our lives ,” a Jharkhand player told PTI.
The fire was later put out and there were no reports of any injuries due to it.
The cause of the fire is still not known.
“Yes, it was scary as a fire broke out early in the morning. We were evacuated and brought to the ground,” Jharkhand coach Rajeev Kumar said.
The match referee’s decision to postpone the game was taken as the kits of the team were at the hotel and there was no way that the match could have started.
Both teams were at the ground but since the Jharkhand players were also mentally disturbed, the BCCI had to give them a day’s time to get into a proper frame of mind.