Two Indian stalwarts, MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina, announced their retirement from international cricket on Saturday. Just a day after landing in Chennai for the pre-season camp ahead of IPL 2020, both Dhoni and Raina announced their decisions.
Dhoni was the first to share the news with his fans. The former India skipper took to Instagram and: “Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired.”
And just minutes later, Raina took to his social media accounts to write: “It was nothing but lovely playing with you, @mahi7781. With my heart full of pride, I choose to join you in this journey. Thank you India. Jai Hind!”
However, what left many surprised was the day they chose to hang their boots. The whole nation celebrated a special day on August 15 as India completed 73 years of its independence. A tweet has been doing the rounds about the same, and it has tried to decipher the reason why Dhoni and Raina retired together.
The former India skipper’s jersey number is ‘7’, and Raina played for India wearing the jersey number ‘3’. If these two numbers are joined, then it becomes 73, the same number of years, the country completed its independence.
#DhoniRetired #RainaRetirement आंकड़ों का खेल देखिए । कल भारत ने स्वतंत्रता के 73 साल पूरे किए और इंटरनेशनल क्रिकेट से जर्सी नंबर 7 ( धोनी) और जर्सी नंबर 3 (रैना) रिटायर हो गए #धोनी_रैना @awasthis @nikhildubei pic.twitter.com/excpfkZdIi
— Anurag Srivastava (@anuragashk) August 16, 2020
Interestingly, Raina has even responded to the tweet posting the emoji of the Indian flag. It still remains unknown if the duo deliberately retired on the special day or it was just a coincidence.
🇮🇳☝️🙏
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) August 16, 2020
CSK uploads unseen footage of their team’s reaction after Dhoni and Raina’s retirement
Hours later, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) took to Twitter to post a video of how the dressing room reacted after both the star batsmen announced their decisions. Dhoni and Raina could be seen hugging each other before their teammates joined them.
Two roads converged on a #yellove wood… #Thala #ChinnaThala #73Forever 🦁🦁 pic.twitter.com/0BDe99kp0z
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) August 16, 2020
The training camp which started on August 15 will end on 20th of this month. The Men in Yellow will then leave for UAE on August 21. The entire IPL T20 will be played in UAE this year because of the alarming pandemic situation in India.
The tournament is scheduled to start on September 19. Both Dhoni and Raina will be returning to the field after a long time. Dhoni last played a competitive game during the semifinal in last year’s World Cup while Raina’s last appearance came in the previous IPL.
