India's former skipper MS Dhoni, who was awarded the honorary rank of a lieutenant colonel in the Territorial Army unit of the Parachute Regiment, will be joining the 106 Territorial Army Battalion (Para) as part of the Victor Force stationed in the Kashmir Valley, from July 31 - August 15, 2019, undertaking the duties of patrolling, guard, and post duty and would be staying with the troops, as approved by the Army Headquarters.

When the issue of Dhoni's security in the position came up, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat stated that they will not need to protect him and that he will protect the citizens and garrison entrusted to his task. "When a citizen of India wants to don the military uniform then he has to also be prepared to fulfill the task for which the uniform has been assigned to him. MS Dhoni has carried out his basic training and we know that he will be able to accomplish the task. In fact, he will be protecting a lot of other people because he will now be performing with the 106 Territorial Army battalion (Para). It is a very good battalion and they have been performing a line of communication duties, static protection and he will be a part of it," the Army Chief said.

Dhoni, for this reason, has made himself unavailable for the upcoming West Indies tour where India will be playing three T20Is, three ODIs, and two Test matches, starting on August 3. The honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel was awarded to him by the Indian Army along with Abhinav Bindra and Deepak Rao in 2011.