On this day in 2020: MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina announce retirements
MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina’s friendship dates back to their younger cricketing days. The duo is known for their on-field bromance in modern-day cricket. In fact, the two dashers were key members of both India and CSK’s memorable title triumphs and also made a tremendous impact as middle-order batters.
Meanwhile, it was on this very day in 2020 (August 15) that both bid adieu to international cricket. While Dhoni was on a sabbatical from the game after the 2019 World Cup, Raina still had some more cricket left.
When MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina announced their international retirement together
Mahendra Singh Dhoni took to his official Instagram handle and posted a video montage of his international cricketing journey from December 2004 to July 2019 and announced his retirement at 1929 hrs IST. In the background, the Ranchi cricketer’s favourite song ‘Main Pal Do Pal Ka Shair Hoon’ from the 1976 Amitabh Bacchan-starrer Kabhi Kabhi was played.
This happened on the occasion of India’s 73rd Independence Day and it certainly left many fans shell-shocked as they could not digest the fact that the legendary wicketkeeper-batter will no longer be donning the India jersey ever again. It is to be noted that the veteran stumper had been making himself unavailable for selection after the 2019 World Cup where India suffered a heartbreaking semifinal exit after an 18-run loss to New Zealand.
While the fans were in utter disbelief at Dhoni’s shocking retirement, they also got another shocker a few minutes later as veteran middle-order batter Suresh Raina also brought the curtains down on his international career.
Raina was only 33 and still had a few good years of cricket left in him, but since he was no longer in the team management as well as the selectors’ scheme of things after the bilateral limited-overs series in England in July 2018 which also saw him being excluded from India’s World Cup 2019 squad, the southpaw might have decided to step down by himself instead of tirelessly playing the waiting game.
While Dhoni scored an unbeaten 91 in the 2011 World Cup final against Sri Lanka and finished it off in style with a six as the Men in Blue became the first team to lift the coveted trophy on home soil, Raina was also a key performer in that tournament playing match-winning knocks in the quarterfinals and semifinals against the then title-holders Australia and arch-rivals Pakistan respectively.
