Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni has announced his retirement from international cricket through an Instagram post.
‘Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout.from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired (sic),’ reads the caption of a four and a half minute video cut on the soundtrack ‘main pal do pal ka shayar hoon’.
While the two-time World Cup winning skipper did not mention in his post if he was retiring from all formats, an official BCCI statement later clarified that he was retiring only from international cricket.
‘While his heroics in the limited-overs formats are well documented, it was also under his leadership that India became the No. 1 Test side in 2009 and the team stayed at the top for over 600 days. He has led India to victory in 21 home Test matches, the most by an Indian captain.
Leaving behind a rich legacy that will be difficult to replicate, Dhoni holds the record for most international matches as captain (332). Unarguably the quickest man behind the wicket, Dhoni has 195 international stumpings, the most by any wicket-keeper,’ said the BCCI’s statement.
Dhoni’s post also comes just one day after he arrived in Chennai to start the pre-season camp for the Chennai Super Kings. The camp got underway today, on 15 August, and will continue till the 20th following which he will depart with the rest of the team’s Indian players for the UAE as the IPL starts on 19 September.
The World Cup-winning captain last played for India at the 2019 ICC World Cup in England where India were knocked out in the semi-finals. The IPL was slated to be his comeback tournament with many expecting him to use it as his route back into the Indian team ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup that was originally scheduled to be played in Australia this year. However, with the World Cup now getting pushed to next year and the IPL being postponed from March to September, Dhoni’s plans clearly have changed as he’s decided to walk away.
A Standout Career
Considered one of the most successful captains of all time in international cricket, Dhoni led the Indian team to victory in the 2007 World T20, which was also his first assignment as skipper of the team in any format, the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.
As Test captain, he also led the team to the numero uno spot in the ICC rankings for the first time ever in 2009. He is also the only captain to win all three ICC trophies. He has also led India to victories in the Asia Cup in 2010 and 2016.
Dhoni also holds the record for most wins as an Indian captain in ODIs and T20Is, and most back-to-back wins by an Indian captain in ODIs.
He made his international debut in an ODI against Bangladesh in December 2004 and made his Test debut a year later against Sri Lanka. He amassed 10,773 runs in 350 ODIs and 1,617 runs in 98 T20Is. The wicketkeeper-batsman also has 229 ODI sixes - the most for an Indian batsman.
Dhoni had retired from Test cricket on December 30, 2014 and in the longest format of the game, he played 90 matches and scored 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09.
Raina Follows Dhoni
Just minutes after Dhoni’s announcement, his close friend and CSK team-mate Suresh Raina too looks like he’s used Instagram to make public a big decision of his own.
‘It was nothing but lovely playing with you, @mahi7781 . With my heart full of pride, I choose to join you in this journey. Thank you India. Jai Hind!’ reads his post hinting that he too is retiring from international cricket.
Most of Raina's international appearances came under Dhoni's captaincy. He scored 5,615 runs in 226 ODI matches, which included five centuries and 1,605 runs, including one century in 78 T20Is. He was the first Indian player to score a century in T20I cricket and the first from the country to score a century in all three formats of the game.
Although he scored a hundred on Test debut, Raina managed to play only 18 games in the longest format and scored 768 runs. His century on debut was also his only ton in the longest format of the game.
Renowned for his ability in the field, Raina was part of the Indian teams that won the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy, both under the captaincy of Dhoni.
(With inputs from IANS)
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