Former Indian coach Gary Kirsten on Monday thanked former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for many fond memories, stating that it was his "privilege to work with one of the best leaders".Taking to Twitter Kirsten wrote, "A privilege to work with one of the best leaders I have come across. Thanks MS for many fond memories with the Indian Cricket Team. @msdhoni." On Saturday, Dhoni had announced his retirement on Instagram. The wicket-keeper-batsman Dhoni shared a video and captioned the post, "Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired."
The video had the iconic song ''Mai Pal Do Pal Ka Shayar Hu'' from Amitabh Bachchan's ''Kabhie Kabhie'' playing in the background and in it, Dhoni shared his incredible journey in the Indian side including his run out in the last game against New Zealand in the World Cup 2019 semi-final.
The 52-year-old Kirsten was head coach of the Indian team between 2008 to 2011. Under his stint, India won the 2011 World Cup after a gap of 28 years. He also guided the Men in Blue to the 2010 Asia Cup title.
Dhoni is among the most successful captains in world cricket. It was under his leadership that India lifted the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011 after having led India to triumph in the ICC World T20 in its maiden edition of the tournament held in 2007 in South Africa.
With India winning the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 in England, Dhoni became the first and is still the only captain to date to have won all three ICC Trophies.
In December 2014, he announced his retirement from Tests and gave a chance to the likes of Wriddhiman Saha. Dhoni called time on his Test career after playing 90 Tests, managing to score 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09.
Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 during the IPL's opening match between CSK and Mumbai Indians.
However, the tournament will now be played in the UAE from September 19 to November 10. He will continue to captain CSK in the IPL 2020.