At lunch on a leaden day in Nagpur, policemen and security personnel generally not used to being called in for a Ranji Trophy game were wondering what the fuss was about. Three hours after they reached the venue, they realised it would be a day's pay well earned.
MS Dhoni, who arrived in a chartered aircraft at 11.30 am, drove straight to the Civil Lines stadium to join his state side Jharkhand on day one of their semi-final against Gujarat. People from the neighbourhood thronged the gates of the pavilion to get a glimpse of India's limited-overs captain. One of the stands filled up quickly, with close to 300 fans chorusing Dhoni chants.
Dhoni, whose arrival even caught a few of the Jharkhand player by surprise, entered the playing area only after being handed a Players and Match Officials accreditation so that he could - like any other player, match official, or member of the support staff - enter the dressing room.
He got the team together in a huddle five minutes before lunch, and watched the entire second session beside the boundary rope along with the former India fast bowler Subroto Banerjee, who in the past has worked as head coach and bowling consultant with Jharkhand.
"The plan at the start of the season was that he will be a mentor for the team. Of course we wish he had more time so that he could spend more time with the team, but he's busy with his cricket too. He's spending as much time as he can and sharing his views and thoughts, which is a big help," Rajiv Kumar, the Jharkhand coach, said. "He interacts with all the boys, makes everyone comfortable.
"He listens to everybody and then he gives his view. His work ethic is good, so when you have a senior who is a role model, as a coach it becomes very easy to explain to the others what you should do. So him being there is a big help to everybody, even me."
At the tea interval, Dhoni was chatted lengthily with Jharkhand's captain Saurabh Tiwary and their senior left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem. At that stage, Jharkhand had been toiling to break what was eventually a 139-run stand between Priyank Panchal and Parthiv Patel.
"When it's a big partnership, what can you do and what needs to be done? He just spoke about that, about the different situations and what the options were," Rajiv said. "He was trying to explain what we can do when there's a big partnership - which bowler to use, how long to wait."
Dhoni is expected to stay with the team through the course of their semi-final. It is likely that he could meet the national selectors here before the Indian team for the limited-overs series against England is picked. Jatin Paranjape, one of the national selectors, is in Nagpur, while MSK Prasad, the chairman of selectors, is expected to arrive on Sunday evening.