Most people agree that MS Dhoni is one of the best limited-overs captains in the history of cricket. The former Indian wicket-keeper batter was the first person to win all ICC trophies while leading the Indian team as he guided the team to victories in the first T20 World Cup in 2007 and the ODI World Cup in 2011, as well as the Champions Trophy in 2013.
During his leadership tenure in Test cricket, he clinched the ICC Test Mace twice. Dhoni’s last international game was the semi-final match against New Zealand in the 2019 ODI World Cup as he decided to and his boots in August 2020. Dhoni made his final appearance for the Indian side at the 2019 World Cup before taking a call on his retirement from international cricket in 2020.
ALSO READ: Garuda Aerospace To Launch A Drone And Name It After MS Dhoni
R Sridhar, the former fielding coach for India, recently recalled an incident when MS Dhoni actually signaled that he had played his last game for India in a chat with Rishabh Pant, who went on to follow Dhoni as the team’s regular wicketkeeper-batter. Sridhar disclosed a conversation that the two wicketkeepers had on the reserve day of India’s game against the Kiwis.
As per the quotes in India Today, R Sridhar said, “I can now reveal that at the time of the interview to the BCCI, which I attended from Antigua, I was reasonably certain that for all practical purposes, MS had played his last match for the country. On the morning of the reserve day in our World Cup semifinal against New Zealand in Manchester, I was the first person at the breakfast hall. I was nursing my coffee when MS and Rishabh walked in, picked up their stuff, and joined me at my table.”
ALSO READ: Gautam Gambhir Predicts India’s X-factor For Border-Gavaskar Trophy
R Sridhar revealed how Dhoni gave the hint that the game against New Zealand was his last, but he kept it to himself and did not speak to anyone about it. In his book, he said that he did not let anyone know about this out of ‘sheer respect’ for the legendary cricketer. Scoring a 72-ball 50, Dhoni was run-out in the match against New Zealand.
Former fielding coach recalled, “New Zealand had only a couple of overs to bat out and we’d start our innings thereafter, so the match would end reasonably early. Rishabh told MS in Hindi, ‘Bhaiyya, some of the guys are planning to leave for London today itself privately. Would you be interested?’ MS replied, ‘No, Rishabh, I don’t want to miss my last bus drive with the team.’”
He further added, “I didn’t say a word to anyone about this conversation out of sheer respect for the man. He had taken me into confidence. I couldn’t shoot my mouth off. So, I didn’t utter a word not to Ravi, not to Arun, not even to my wife.”
