MS Dhoni’s Authentic International Cricket Retirement Date Revealed

MS Dhoni played his final match for India against New Zealand in the 2019 ICC World Cup semi-final in Manchester on July 10, 2019.

MS Dhoni is widely regarded as one of the greatest captains in India’s cricket history. He is the only Indian captain to have won all three ICC tournaments. Under his leadership, India secured victories in the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 ODI World Cup, and the 2013 Champions Trophy. 

Dhoni, who is now 42 years old, last represented India in the 2019 ICC World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in Manchester on July 10, 2019. Although he officially announced his retirement on August 15, 2023, Dhoni has disclosed that he had made the decision to retire after India’s loss to New Zealand in the semi-final, which was a two-day match held at Old Trafford.

“It gets difficult to control your emotions when you have lost a close game. And inside, I had made my entire planning. To me, that was the last day I played cricket for India. I took retirement a year later but the fact is that, that day I had retired. We cricketers are given certain machines and all of that. So everytime I went to the trainer I gave it back to him. He said ‘No you keep it. And in my mind, I am like ‘how do I tell him I won’t be needing or using it anymore’. I didn’t want to announce it at that point in time,” Dhoni said during an event recently.

Having served his country for 15 years, Dhoni further revealed that a lot was going on his mind after he finally made up his mind.

“You are high on emotions. The only thing you’ve done in the last 12-15 years is play cricket. And then there is no more chance of you representing the country. There are so many people but only few get that opportunity. And sportspersons, they have that. Irrespective of which sport you play, you are representing your country. Be it Commonwealth Games, Olympics. So once I quit cricket, there was no way I could do that. I could no longer bring any glory. All those things are going on in mind,” he added.

In the 2019 World Cup semi-final, Dhoni had a great opportunity to make a strong finish, but unfortunately, he got run out when he was just 50 runs away from victory.

As Dhoni left the field, he looked quite disappointed, and fans from all around the world could sense that this was his last performance in the tournament.

Earlier this year, Dhoni successfully led the Chennai Super Kings to their fifth Indian Premier League (IPL) title.

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