“Thanks. Thanks a lot for your love and support throughout. From 1929 hrs consider me as Retired.” Dhoni announced his retirement from International cricket in his own style, bringing an end to his sterling cricket career on the eve of India’s 73rd Independence Day. Following this, Suresh Raina also took to Instagram to announce his retirement from International cricket.
“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!” Suresh Raina wrote on his Instagram account shortly after MS Dhoni hung his boots.
While Raina was last seen playing for India in July 2018, Dhoni last played against New Zealand in the semi final of the ICC 2019 Cricket World Cup.
MS Dhoni is regarded as India’s most successful captain in the limited-overs. A man known for his unorthodox wicket keeping and witty captaincy, he was the first to win all three ICC trophies as a captain – 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 50-over World Cup and the Champions Trophy 2013.
The last day the sporting world saw him in the Indian jersey, he almost did one of his several mind blowing performances, but fell short of taking India home in the 2019 World Cup. Without showing much emotion on his face, he walked towards the pavilion and now, never returned.
On the other hand, Raina was the first Indian to score a T20 century, the first to register centuries in all the formats of International cricket and has a lot more achievements to his name. The left handed batsman at an average of 35.31 has scored 5615 runs in 226 ODIs and also played in 18 Test matches and 78 T20s for India.
Two of the finest cricketers in the Indian history called it a day today and that brings this era to an end. Playing alongside each other for years, these both have several tales of friendship to share. They hung their boots in the international arena but will soon be seen in action in the upcoming IPL, playing together for Chennai Super Kings.
