"I don't want to miss my last bus drive with the team" - Former India fielding coach reveals untold stories about MS Dhoni's retirement

Former Indian fielding coach R Sridhar recently revealed an interesting story about ex-skipper MS Dhoni's international retirement. The legendary wicketkeeper-batter called time on his international career on August 15, 2020.

Dhoni played his last international match during the 2019 ODI World Cup in England. Sridhar revealed how the Ranchi-born cricketer hinted about his retirement during a conversation with fellow teammate Rishabh Pant on the morning of the semi-final clash against New Zealand.

Sridhar made this remark in his book, "Coaching Beyond - My days with the Indian Cricket Team."

"I can now reveal that at the time of the interview to the BCCI, which I attended from Antigua, I was reasonably certain that for all practical purposes, MS had played his last match for the country," he said. "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."

“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," Sridhar added. "Rishabh told MS Dhoni 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.'”

India, meanwhile, lost Dhoni's final international game by 18 runs and crashed out of the 2019 ODI World Cup, with his runout being the turning point in the match.

Dhoni played a fighting knock of 50 but got out with India still needing 24 runs to win off nine balls. Virat Kohli and Co. eventually lost the match by 18 runs.

The keeper-batter made his India debut in 2004 and scored 10,773 ODI runs in 350 games. He also featured in 90 Tests and 98 T20s. He led India to the 2007 World T20 title, the 2011 World Cup, and the 2013 Champions Trophy.

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MS Dhoni to lead Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2023

Legendary cricketer MS Dhoni will continue to lead four-time IPL winner Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Incidentally, Dhoni passed on the baton to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja ahead of IPL 2022. But the Saurashtra-born all-rounder failed miserably and relinquished his duties midway through the season.

Dhoni once again took over the captaincy duties and will look to turn CSK's fortunes around, with Chennai finishing ninth in the IPL last year.

CSK made a couple of smart buys at the IPL 2023 mini-auction last month, adding all-rounder Ben Stokes and experienced batter Ajinkya Rahane to their ranks, while also getting New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamison.

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CSK full squad for IPL 2023: MS Dhoni (c), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Chowdhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Kyle Jamieson, Ajay Mandal, and Bhagath Verma.

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