"I didn't say a word to anyone about this conversation..." - Ex-India coach reveals an instance when MS Dhoni hinted his retirement to Rishabh Pant

Former legendary Indian skipper MS Dhoni is undoubtedly one of the greatest captains ever played in the history of cricket. The Ranchi-born wicketkeeper-batter was the first ever captain to lift a title in all major international tournaments including the inaugural edition of the 20-20 World Cup in 2007 followed by the ODI World Cup 2011 and the Champions Trophy of 2013.

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He also kept the Test mace of the number one team two times during his stint as India’s captain in the traditional format of the game. The 41-year-old hung his boots in international cricket almost two and a half years back in the year 2020. Semi-final match against New Zealand in World Cup 2019 was his last appearance for India at the highest level of the game.

Although, former fielding coach of India, R Sridhar has left everyone in shock after revealing about an instance when MS Dhoni hinted about his retirement and last game for the men in blue.

“I can now reveal that at the time of the interview with the Indian Cricket Board, which I attended from Antigua, I was reasonably certain that for all practical purposes, MS had played his last match for the country. He hadn't announced it, of course, but I will tell you why I knew. On the morning of the reserve day in our World Cup semifinal against New Zealand in Manchester, I was the first person at the breakfast hall. I was nursing my coffee when MS and Rishabh walked in, picked up their stuff, and joined me at my table,” wrote Sridhar in his book ‘Coaching Beyond- My days with the Indian cricket team’.

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I didn't say a word to anyone about this conversation out of sheer respect for the man - R Sridhar on MS Dhoni

“New Zealand had only a couple of overs to bat out and we'd start our innings thereafter, so the match would end reasonably early. Rishabh told MS in Hindi, 'Bhaiyya, some of the guys are planning to leave for London today itself privately. Would you be interested?' MS replied, 'No, Rishabh, I don't want to miss my last bus drive with the team,’” Sridhar added further while writing about Dhoni’s conversation with Rishabh Pant.

“I didn't say a word to anyone about this conversation out of sheer respect for the man. He had taken me into confidence. I couldn't shoot my mouth off. So, I didn't utter a word not to Ravi, not to Arun, not even to my wife,” said the former fielding coach.