MS Dhoni Retirement: We Cried & Hugged a Lot After Making Announcement, Says Suresh Raina

Former India skipper MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina announced their retirement on August 15. While Dhoni had not played for the country since 2019 World Cup semi-final loss against New Zealand, Raina last appeared for the team in 2018.

Raina now has disclosed that he came to know about Dhoni’s decision to retire when he reached Chennai. He went on to say that he hugged and cried a lot after making the announcement, and later parties with their CSK mates.

“I knew Dhoni would announce his retirement upon reaching Chennai, so I was ready. I, Piyush Chawla, Deepak Chahar and Karn Sharma reached Ranchi on 14th with the chartered plane, and picked up Mahi bhai and Monu Singh,” Raina told Dainik Jagran. “After announcing our retirement, we hugged and cried a lot. I, Piyush, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav and Karn sat together after that, talked about our careers and our relationship. We partied during the night.”

Raina represented India in 18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20Is in an international career spanning 13 years. He also had the honour of captaining the team briefly. Raina, who scored a century on debut in Tests, is also the first Indian to slam hundreds in all three formats of the game and his centuries were scored outside India.

After the retirement, these India stalwarts will be seen playing together for the CSK, beginning September 19, where they face Mumbai Indians.

The IPL was originally was supposed to take place in March, but was postponed due to the coronavirus. Now the tournament will be played in UAE.