India is regarded as a cricket loving nation. Cricket is reckoned no less than a religion in most parts of our country. Last night, [ August 15] people went berserk when MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket. This incident shook the entire ‘cricketing’ nation. For Indian cricket fans, 2020 could not get any worse than this. MS Dhoni is known for his unexpected decisions. True to form, he sprung one on his unsuspecting fans last night.

For more than 16 years he continued to bring laurels to our country, fans had to expect the unexpected from Dhoni. After completing the first practice session with his team Chennai super kings, Dhoni penned “Thanks a lot for your love and support throughout, from 1929 hrs consider me as retired’’ with Sahir Ludhianvi’s ‘Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon’ sung by Mukesh played in the background. As he is the epitome of simplicity, his retirement captions are the perfect example of that.

Once the news of Dhoni’s retirement broke out in MA Chidambaram stadium, those people who were in the CSK dressing room rushed to speak to him. He just told them that he felt like doing it. He started planning for his net session on Monday in his usual unflustered manner.

With that, Dhoni finally concluded his international career, leaving everyone dazed, including his teammates. We had not even recovered from the news of Dhoni’s retirement and we received another blow — the news of Suresh Raina’s retirement. But the good news is both Dhoni and Raina will continue to wear a yellow jersey in the IPL.
The end of an era of Indian cricket is marked by the retirement of Dhoni. The ice-cool demeanor of this Ranchi boy had taken the world by storm with his long sixes and brilliant captaincy. He had brought home the world cup after 28 years. He has been one of the best India had ever produced and will always be dearly remembered for maintaining his cool in high- pressure situations.

Ashish Satyam

  cricket, Dhoni