EXCLUSIVE | MS Dhoni's Childhood Friend Sheds Light On His Plans For IPL 2020 Post Retirement

MSD is expected to play in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), for which he arrived in Chennai for a training camp ahead of the team's departure for the UAE.

(File Photo/ AFP)

New Delhi: Mahendra Singh Dhoni's retirement news on Saturday evening shocked the entire nation with several including his fellow cricketers, celebrities, political leaders and fans expressing disappointment over the development. Cricketing bigwigs such as Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Virat Kohli and many others wished the former Indian skipper a happy retirement and also thanked him for his contribution to the gentleman's game. On Saturday evening, MSD took to his Instagram account to announce his retirement from International cricket. "Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout.from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired (sic)", Dhoni said wrote in his post.

View this post on Instagram

 

Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout.from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired

A post shared by M S Dhoni (@mahi7781) on Aug 15, 2020 at 7:01am PDT

Ever since the news of Captain Cool's retirement started making headline, fans rushed to social media platforms to wish their favourite cricketer a happy life ahead. While several expressed disappointment and termed his retirement "end of an era", many others thanked the cricketer for his incredible endowment to the game. Meanwhile, speaking to ABP News, MS Dhoni's manager and childhood friend Mihir Diwakar explained why MSD chose this particular day to announce his retirement. Diwakar said that as August 15 is a big day for people of India, MS Dhoni must have decided to choose this day to retire. While reacting to the news of his retirement, Diwakar also made it clear that MS Dhoni is very focussed for the upcoming season of Indian Premier League (IPL 2020) which is scheduled to start from September 19 in United Arab Emirates (UAE). Even IPL Franchise, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) reacted on their skipper MS Dhoni retirement news. CSK post a very heartfelt message for Mahendra Singh Dhoni on the social media platform.CSK shared a post and wrote “And today marks the completion of ’73’ years of Indian Independence.

And today marks the completion of '73' years of Indian Independence. #DhoniRetires ???? #RainaRetires ???? #WhistlePodu ????????

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) August 15, 2020

CSK also shared a other post with MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina. In this post CSK wrote - "Date: Independence Day Time: Sunset at the southernmost tip of India Place: Chepauk, their Anbuden."

Date: Independence Day Time: Sunset at the southernmost tip of India Place: Chepauk, their Anbuden#73Forever #Thala #ChinnaThala ???????? pic.twitter.com/mnExWIfuyf

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) August 15, 2020

Soon after MS Dhoni announced his retirement, another veteran Indian batsman Suresh Raina formally announced his retirement from all international cricket. "It was nothing but lovely playing with you, @mahi7781 . With my heart full of pride, I choose to join you in this journey. Thank you India. Jai Hind!" said Raina in a post that included a picture of him with his CSK teammates Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav and Karn Sharma. Both Dhoni and Raina are expected to play in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), for which both of them arrived in Chennai for a training camp ahead of the team's departure for the UAE. The tournament starts from September 19 and will run till November 10.