Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one of the most successful India captains, on Saturday announced retirement from international cricket. Notably, the former India skipper has not played since India’s semifinal exit from the ODI World Cup held in England in July 2019.
One of India’s biggest cricketing heroes, Dhoni has brought the curtain down on what has been a glittering international cricket career. The announcement came a day after he joined his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) teammates in Chennai ahead of this year’s IPL that would be held in the UAE.
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Dhoni will lead CSK in IPL 2020, making an eagerly-awaited return to competitive cricket after India lost to New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semifinal, the 39-year-old’s last outing in India colours.
Dhoni took to Instagram to announce his retirement where he posted, “Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired.” He also put up a slideshow of images from his career with the song “Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon (I’m a poet for only a short-lived time)” from the Yash Chopra movie Kabhi Kabhie (1976) with the playback given by legendary singer Mukesh ji.
The 39-year-old batsman-wicketkeeper is the only captain in the history of cricket to win all ICC trophies. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2010 and 2016 Asia Cups, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy.
His meteoric rise in Indian cricket is the stuff of legends, which was depicted in his biopic Dhoni that starred Sushant Singh Rajput in the titular role.
