‘Bapu, aate hi mera thank you kar diya’ – When MS Dhoni teased Axar Patel after announcing Test retirement

Although Axar Patel made his Test debut earlier this year in England, his maiden call-up for the Test side came way back in 2014. With all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja getting ruled out of the final two matches of 2014-15 Border Gavaskar Trophy, Patel flew to Australia as a replacement. Although the left-arm spinner didn’t get any game in the series, he had some interesting anecdotes to share from his visit down under.

Interestingly, former Indian captain MS Dhoni announced his retirement on the same tour. He made the shocking announcement following the conclusion of the Boxing-Day Test in Melbourne. Notably, it was the third and penultimate Test. Hence, India had one more game to play in Sydney. However, Dhoni felt it’s the right time to hang up his boots.

MS Dhoni announced his Test retirement a day after my arrival in Australia: Axar Patel

Speaking of his visit to Australia, Axar recalled how Dhoni pulled his leg after announcing retirement. “It was the Boxing-Day Test and I arrived the very day as Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) got injured midway. I remember this because Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni) had announced his retirement the next day,” Patel said in a video shared on Delhi Capitals’ Twitter page.

“He (Dhoni) said to me: “Bapu, aate he mera thank you kar diya.” I was like: “Mahi bhai, I came just now”,” added Patel. The left-arm spinner apparently meant Dhoni jokingly blamed him for his retirement. The clip went viral in no time as fans were left in splits after coming across the hilarious episode.

When @akshar2026 shares an interesting story from the final Test of #MSDhoni 😍

Let's take you back to the conversation between Bapu & @ImIshant from their #DCCafe special 💥

Watch the entire episode here 👉 https://t.co/0EKWCQRNsb#YehHaiNayiDilli #IPL2021 #DCSpecials @OctaFX pic.twitter.com/9WUMld7ks7

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) September 27, 2021

Meanwhile, Patel is currently plying his trade for Delhi Capitals in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Alongside keeping the scoring rate down, Patel has also made some significant contributions batting lower down the order. He, thus, has been instrumental in taking DC to the playoffs.

With the competition being in its latter half, the team management would want him to extend his purple patch. Besides DC, the MS Dhoni-led CSK is the only other time to have qualified for the playoffs. Hence, one could see Dhoni and Patel going up against each other in the playoff match. Notably, DC and CSK are also set to meet once more in the group stages.