Suresh Raina Reveals Why He And Dhoni Chose to Retire on 15 August
Suresh Raina reveals why he and MS Dhoni chose to retire on 15 August.
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Suresh Raina and his ‘mentor’ MS Dhoni both announced their retirement from international cricket on Saturday, 15 August. First it was Dhoni who shocked the country with his short two-line Instagram post and then Raina posted a picture where he’s sitting with Dhoni and his CSK team-mates, captioning it -"I choose to join you (Dhoni) in this journey".
But, was it a spontaneous decision? To follow a man he considers his elder brother? Or did Suresh Raina and Dhoni discuss their retirement before?
Raina has now revealed to Dainik Jagran that both players had made the decision even before arriving in Chennai for IPL’s pre-season camp on Friday.
"I knew Dhoni would announce his retirement upon reaching Chennai, so I was ready," Raina said.
“We had made up our minds to retire on August 15. Mahi Bhai’s jersey number is 7 and mine is 3 and put it together and it makes 73. And on Saturday, our country completed 73 years of independence, so there couldn't have been a better day,” Raina told Jagran.
Chennai Super Kings’ Twitter handle had posted a video from the evening when the players made their announcement and an emotional Raina can be seen giving MS Dhoni a hug before they walk together towards the team bus after the practise session.
"After announcing our retirement, we hugged and cried a lot. I, Piyush, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav and Karn sat together after that, talked about our careers and our relationship. We partied during the night," Raina revealed.
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