Advertisement

Suresh Raina reveals the ordeal before MS Dhoni's Test retirement

Dhoni announced his retirement at the post-match conference of the Boxing Day Test at MCG last year.

 

Suresh Raina reveals the ordeal before MS Dhoni's Test retirement

New Delhi: A year on, Suresh Raina revealed the ordeal Indian team had gone through ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's sudden retirement as the captain of the Test cricket team.

Raina, in an exclusive interview with Cricbuzz, claimed that he got "a hint that he [MS Dhoni] was going to do something" ahead of final day's play of the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground last year.

Dhoni's announcement to retire from the Test cricket came as a surprise to everyone, but Raina, who is one of the closest team-mates to MS Dhoni, noticed the trouble the skipper was going through.

On the eve of final day, the skipper had given him a signed Team India jersey, saying "After tonight, I'm not going to wear the white jersey."

"Nobody had a clue (about his retirement). He came up to me and said that 'I have an extra large (jersey). This is Double XL. Keep this," the 29-year-old told.

"He was having his breakfast and not talking to anyone. So I thought something is going to happen in the evening. As soon as the Test match got over, he called everyone and said that he wanted to say something. That time I knew that he was going to retire. It is a difficult time for a player. He slept with his t-shirt on the entire night. Ishant (Sharma), Ash (R Ashwin), Virat (Kohli) and me were all sitting in his room," Raina added.

Dhoni announced his retirement at the post-match conference.

After missing the three matches of Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Raina played in the fourth and final Test at Sydney Cricket Ground. Australia won the series 2-0.