MS Dhoni has time and again surprised everyone with his unorthodox decisions which defy logic. His decision to throw the ball to an unheralded Joginder Sharma to bowl the last over of the ICC World T20 finale against Pakistan or his call to retire from Test cricket midway through the Australia tour are just a couple of examples.
He again pulled a rabbit out of hat on Saturday evening by posting a video of Instagram, announcing his decision to retire from international cricket. While speculations were rife on his India future but little did anyone expect the confirmation will be made in such a manner.
Dhoni reportedly didn’t even inform former BCCI president and owner of Chennai Super Kings N Srinivasan about his retirement. On Saturday, Dhoni practised till 7:00 PM and 29 minutes later, dropped the retirement bomb, sending the cricket world into a meltdown.
“The practice started around 4:30 pm and Dhoni finished around 7:00 and went back to the dressing room. Half an hour later, I received a text from our owner N Srinivasan, asking me to check whether the news was correct. I confronted Dhoni when he returned from the dressing room and he confirmed the news,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told The Times of India.
Dhoni displayed no emotions while confirming his decision to Viswanathan. “His decision completely took us by surprise but he showed no emotions. He was as cool and calm as ever. The Indian team and CSK have achieved success over the years under Dhoni’s captaincy because there was clarity in his thoughts. On Saturday, too, I could see the same clarity in his decision,” he said.
Viswanathan hopes Dhoni will continue to represent CSK in the IPL for as long as he wants. “He has quit international cricket only. He is going to play for CSK. We want him to play for us as long as he wants. In fact, we plan to retain him as a player after the 2021 IPL too,” he said.
