On This Day, Two Years Ago: MS Dhoni Announced Retirement From International Cricket
It was on this day, two years ago (2020) when World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket.
It was on this day, two years ago (2020) when World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket. Dhoni's decision to call it quits in international cricket came out of nowhere on August 15, 2020 at 7:29 PM IST. The 2011-World Cup winning captain announced his decision to retire on Instagram, uploading a video, highlighting all the highs and lows of his career. Taking to Instagram, he had written: "Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired."
In the backdrop of his retirement announcement video, Dhoni had chosen the iconic song ''Mai Pal Do Pal Ka Shayar Hu' from Amitabh Bachchan's 'Kabhie Kabhie'. What made the video iconic was how the wicketkeeper-batter chose to highlight all the lows of his cricket career, including that heartbreaking 2019 World Cup semi-final loss against New Zealand.Â
Fans will always remember Dhoni for finishing off tight games and how he won't even break a sweat in taking his side over the line. The wicketkeeper's first international ton had come in 2005 as he smashed a century against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam. Dhoni had made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004 but he did not have a good outing as he scored just 19 runs in the three-match series.
Dhoni went on to play 350 ODIs with his highest score being 183 against Sri Lanka. He also remains the only captain to win all major ICC trophies and, in his career, he was referred to as 'Captain Cool'. The wicketkeeper-batter called time on his international career in August 2020.
During his international and IPL playing days, Dhoni has always been known for his calmness and exquisite captaincy on the field. Over the years, he has cemented his place as one of the finest wicket-keepers across the world.
In December 2014, he had announced his retirement from Tests. He called time on his Test career after playing 90 Tests, in which he scored 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09. Then in 2017, he had handed over the captaincy to Virat Kohli in the white-ball formats.
India Cricket Team
MS Dhoni
Suresh Raina
Chennai Super Kings