Asin denies taking extra interest in Dhoni.

Now that M S Dhoni is happily married, one would presume that all the talk linking the cricketer with Asin would end. Last week, at an event launching the cricket World Cup’s official merchandise, Asin was apparently more interested in knowing how Dhoni’s performance at the match between India and South Africa than in promoting the merchandise with some of cricket’s other luminaries like Irfan Pathan and Dinesh Karthik.

Says a source present at the event, "Asin kept asking Dinesh about the score, especially Dhoni’s, in Tamil. What she didn’t know was that Irfan Pathan who was in hearing distance, understood and spoke Tamil. He quickly caught on to Asin’s keen interest in the goings-on at the India-South Africa match. Irfan even reprimanded Asin sportingly for being focussed elsewhere other than the event they were attending.

When contacted, Asin denies taking extra interest in Dhoni’s score. "I wanted to watch the match instead of being on stage. I was inquiring in Tamil from Dinesh about India’s score. Not too many people seem to know I am keenly interested in cricket, not cricketers. I was inquiring about our team’s score at the third Test from the boys backstage."

Apparently, Parthiv Patel, who was in hearing distance, playfully scolded Asin and Dinesh Karthik for going on and on in Tamil. Says Asin, "Yeah, Parthiv had to cut into our conversation finally. I was surprised to know Irfan Pathan spoke Tamil too.’