'We cried together on both occasions' - R Sridhar reminisces MS Dhoni's last days of Test and international cricket

MS Dhoni announced his international retirement on Saturday on his official Instagram. While everyone was expecting it at some point, but none thought he would it in such a way and at a time, when the nation was looking forward to seeing him in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The decision made a few eyes moist and one of them is India‘s fielding coach R Sridhar.

He is one man to have spent maximum time with the veteran cricketer over the last few years. He was in the dressing room when MS Dhoni retired from Test cricket back in 2014. Though Sridhar wasn’t with him on this occasion, he has reminisced the moment which eventually turned to be the last in the Indian dressing room.

Dhoni didn’t play international cricket at all, after the heart-breaking World Cup semi-final against New Zealand last year. Sridhar posted both the pictures of his last days and has revealed that both of them cried on those occasions. In a long message dedicated to the 39-year-old, Sridhar recalled how the cricketer gave the country countless moments of joy during his illustrious career. He also stated that MS Dhoni gave his best in his attempt to take his team to the final.

“These two pics are from last days of your international cricket with the red ball and white ball. I remember….we cried together on both occasions… You had given your absolute best. It was difficult separation for you, but you did what you felt was the best for Team India. As always, you had put the team ahead of everything else. As a cricketing icon, you gave us countless moments of joy, moments that took our breath away.

“You won us a handful of world cups to cherish & memories that we can take to our grave. You helped people learn the most valuable life skills through the sport… And finally the song “Main pal do pal Ka shayar hoon“…which left us with moist eyes reminding us of the stark reality that nothing is permanent in life. You also inspired a whole nation, you gave hope to a million young small town kids to dream big and achieve them.

“As a human being…I’ve seen none better than you. Period. Thank you for everything Mahi. #foreverskipper @mahi7781 @indiancricketteam #dhoniretires #greatestofalltime #GOAT,” the long message read.

Here’s the post:

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These two pics are from last days of your international cricket with the red ball and white ball. I remember….we cried together on both occasions… You had given your absolute best. It was difficult separation for you, but you did what you felt was the best for Team India. As always, you had put the team ahead of everything else. As a cricketing icon, you gave us countless moments of joy, moments that took our breath away. You won us a handful of world cups to cherish & memories that we can take to our grave. You helped people learn the most valuable life skills through the sport… And finally the song "Main pal do pal Ka shayar hoon"…which left us with moist eyes reminding us of the stark reality that nothing is permanent in life. You also inspired a whole nation, you gave hope to a million young small town kids to dream big and achieve them As a human being…I've seen none better than you. Period. Thank you for everything Mahi. #foreverskipper @mahi7781 @indiancricketteam #dhoniretires #greatestofalltime #GOAT

A post shared by R Sridhar (@coach_rsridhar) on Aug 15, 2020 at 10:50am PDT

MS Dhoni to set the stage on fire in IPL 2020

Meanwhile, MS Dhoni is with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) team and is training with him at the moment ahead of the IPL 2020. The team is set to leave for the UAE on August 20 or 21 and it will be interesting to see the way Dhoni bats this time around with no pressure.