Rahul said he would have relished one last opportunity to share the dressing room with Dhoni in an international match before the former India captain called it quits.
“It was quite shocking. I was honestly heartbroken. I’m sure all of us in the team or whoever has played under him and with him would have wanted to give him a big send-off and wanted him to play one more time so we could have had that opportunity to do something special for him. It is what it is,” Rahul told ESPNCricinfo.
Rahul who has been considered by the think tank as the number one choice to take over wicket-keeping duties from Mahendra Singh Dhoni in white ball cricket said that the former Indian skipper was a tremendous inspiration and mentor to all younsgters in the team.
“He has been someone who has guided us all really, really well. And who has never expected us to change who we are. He has let us go out there and express ourselves and make our mistakes and learn from them. He has just let us be.
“If we were ever in doubt, or if we wanted to look to somebody for answers, he was always there. He knew when to push the players,” added Rahul.
Rahul is all set to don the captaincy's hat for the first time in the IPL as he will lead his franchisee Kings XI Punjab in the upcoming season of the league. Rahul said he has always admired Dhoni's captaincy and felt it to be a honour to be led by him while playing for India.He also hopes to apply the invaluable knowledge which he has gained from the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the art of captaincy.
“It has always been MS Dhoni. I’m grateful that I’ve had the honour of playing under him and with him. Even Rohit [Sharma] is quite a good captain. Virat [Kohli] is a phenomenal captain. I have learned a lot from all of them and hopefully I can use all of that knowledge when I am captaining,” Rahul said.
The 13th edition of IPL will begin from September 19. The full schedule for the same is yet to be announced by the BCCI.