look news india
The cricket world has seen many beautiful examples of friendship. But the friendship between MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina remains intact. Their friendship is not limited to the field only, but they are very close to cricket in the outside world as well. Their friendship is such that on one hand Dhoni is known as 'Thala' and on the other hand Raina is known as 'Chinna Thala'.
When did Dhoni and Raina become friends?
Suresh Raina has written in his book (autobiography) that the foundation of his friendship with MS Dhoni was laid during the 2005 Duleep Trophy. In those days, a match was being played in Gwalior in February 2005, in which Raina was very impressed by Dhoni's confidence, self-reliance and aggressive playing style. After which both of them were seen together in the camp organized in Bangalore for the senior Indian team. Over time, their friendship grew so much that they started sharing a room as well.
Dhoni and Raina retired on 15 August
MS Dhoni played his last international cricket match in July 2019 against New Zealand. It had been more than a year since he was away from cricket, when on 15 August 2020, India's Independence Day, MS Dhoni announced his retirement by sharing a video on Instagram. While the cricket world was still reeling with the news of Dhoni's retirement, a few hours later Suresh Raina also shared a video on Instagram. He captioned it saying that he is saying goodbye to cricket.
Why did both the legends retire on 15 August?
A long time ago, in a media interview, Suresh Raina had given the reason for retiring on 15 August and said, “We had decided to retire on 15 August. Dhoni's jersey number is 7, my jersey number is 3. Both of them decided to retire together in the 73rd year of independence. On 15 August 2020, both the legends said goodbye to the cricket world.
Suresh Raina was part of the 2011 World Cup winning Indian team. But MS Dhoni's achievements as a captain speak volumes. Dhoni was handed over the captaincy during the 2007 T20 World Cup and he died after making India the world champion. Apart from this, India also won the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy under Dhoni's captaincy.