To anyone who has observed Mahendra Singh Dhoni over the last 15 years, his decision to walk off silently would not have come as a surprise. However, it does not make the fact that he will not be seen in India blues ever again any less heartbreaking.
“Thanks. Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout.from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired,” Dhoni posted on Instagram on August 15, bringing time to a standstill.
Within an hour, his pal and Chennai Super Kings teammate Suresh Raina too announced his retirement.
Speaking to Dainik Jagran, Raina revealed that he and Dhoni had planned in advance to hang up their boots on the Independence Day as it marked “73” years of India’s freedom, which is a combination of their respective jersey numbers – Dhoni’s is 7 while Raina wears 3.
Numbers, somehow, have always been very important to the former India captain.
The Uttar Pradesh batsman further recounted that after making the announcements, they both got emotional and cried while hugging each other.
Dhoni and Raina are currently in Chennai for a CSK training camp ahead of the start of the Indian Premier League 2020.
“I knew Dhoni would announce retirement upon reaching Chennai, so I was ready. I, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar and Karn Sharma reached Ranchi on 14th with a chartered plane and picked up Mahi bhai. After announcing our retirement, we hugged and cried a lot. Everybody sat together after that, talking about our careers and our relationship. We partied during the night,” Raina said.
Ever since the two legends bid adieu to the game together, the Internet has been hailing their bond as one of the greatest friendships of all time.
The fans are now waiting to see them back in action in IPL 2020 which is scheduled to start from September 19.