Mahendra Singh Dhoni retires from international cricket

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In what may come as a big surprise to cricket fans around the world, experienced wicketkeeper-batsman and India's most successful captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday announced his retirement from international cricket.

The 39-year-old took to his official Instagram account to confirm that he is calling curtains on his illustrious 16-year-long international career.

Sharing a video of his cricket journey, the former Indian skipper thanked everyone for their love and support throughout his cricket career.

"Thanks.Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout.from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired," Dhoni wrote along with the video.

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

Dhoni made his international debut for India during a One-Day International (ODI) match against Bangladesh in December 2004.

A year later, the wicketkeeper-batsman made a Test debut for Team India against Sri Lanka in Chennai. Meanwhile, Dhoni received his maiden cap in the shortest format of the game against New Zealand in Manchester in July 9.

He notched up a total of 4,876 runs in 90 Tests, 10,773 runs in 350 ODIs and 1,617 runs in 98 matches he played for India in the shortest format of the game.

Dhoni was handed over the capataincy in 2007 during his early days of international career. He had a challenge of leading the likes of experienced players namely Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Rahul Dravid among others.

However, Dhoni did justice to his role as he guided India to World Twenty20 Cup in 2007.

Later, the wicketkeeper-batsman also guided Team India to World Cup victory in 2011 after the team's 28-year-long wait for the title and also led the team to Champions Trophy victory in 2013.

Dhoni is the most successful skipper of India as he remains the only captain to win all the major ICC trophies namely 50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy. 

Under his captaincy, Dhoni had led India in a total of 199 matches in the 50-over format, guiding the side to 110 wins and 74 defeats.The wicketkeeper-batsman had also led India in 60 Test matches and helped the team clinch 27 wins.

Besides this, Dhoni also holds a decent captaincy record in the Twenty20I format. He had guided India to 41 victories out of the 72 matches the country played under his leadership.

Dhoni had been on an indefinite break since India's semi-final exit at the 2019 ICC World Cup at the hands of New Zealand.

The experienced wicketkeeper-batsman is all set to lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League, which is slated to take place from September 19 to November 10 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).