Brothers in Arms

MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina - the prolific finishing pair announced themselves retired on Independence Day. 




On the 15th of August 2020, when India celebrated its 74th Independence Day. Our country completed 73 years of independence; 73 years of sovereignty; 73 years of freedom, and 73 years of democracy.

On the morning of the 74th Independence Day, we all saw PM Modi’s speech which was inducted differently, where only 4000 people were invited to see the ceremony in Delhi’s majestic Red Fort. But by the evening of the day, many hearts were broken.

The most successful Indian captain retired from the international arena at the age of 39 years. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the flamboyant youngster who came in the year of 2004 from a small city of Ranchi, made the city world-famous by his name, sixteen years down the line. MS Dhoni posted an IGTV on his Instagram account and captioned it “Thanks a lot for your love and support throughout. From 1929 hours consider me as retired”.

 


Fifteen minutes later former all-rounder Suresh Raina, who is also Dhoni’s close friend, also announced his retirement from international cricket at a mere age of 33 years. Raina also posted about his retirement through an Instagram post where he thanked his mentor, adding, “I choose to join you in this journey”.

 
 

MS Dhoni’s retirement was expected as the last game played for India was back in July 2019. He suddenly made himself unavailable for every series after India’s exit from the World Cup. It has to be the lowest moment in Dhoni’s entire cricketing career. He was criticized for India’s loss. After rescuing the team from the disastrous 96 for 6.

Many eyes all over the world popped up as the former Indian all-rounder told about his sudden exit from international cricket. The hard thing to swallow was that a player retiring in his early 30s. Usually, an Asian player does not make an early retirement. They tend to push their limits until they are shoved off the setup.

Raina was not someone who was just an average player who would think it is the end of the road for now. He was an extraordinary talent who started playing for the nation at the age of seventeen years. He represented India more than 300 times and he also played a handy part in India’s 2011 triumph. His contribution to IPL-franchisee Chennai Super Kings’ dominance all over the years in no less. He won three IPL and two Champions League titles with his loyal franchisee. That is the reason why Raina is also called Mr. IPL because of the all wonders he did for CSK for the past 12 years.

A day after his retirement, Suresh Raina spoke about his early exit and why he and his mentor-friend MSD chose 15 August for retirement. Raina said he knew as soon as MS would join the CSK camp, he would announce his retirement and he wanted his exit to be special. Therefore, they announced their retirement one after the other. About choosing Independence Day as their day. He said that Dhoni’s Jersey No. was 7 and he played with No. 3 on his back. As this Independence Day India completed 73 years of freedom. So, they wanted to underline the moment. 


The Indian pair which finished plenty of matches together, also crossed over the final crease together!

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