These 2 Indian Legends Said Goodbye To Cricket On August 15, One Won 3 ICC Trophies

Today, India celebrates Independence Day on August 15, a significant day that also saw two cricket heroes announce their retirement from the sport. It has been five years since these players shared their retirement posts on their Instagram handles, surprising the entire nation of 1.4 billion people on the evening of India's Independence Day. These two cricketers have given their all on the field, helping India become world champions not just once, but twice.

The cricket world has seen many beautiful examples of friendship, but the bond between MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina remains strong. Their friendship extends beyond the field as they are very close off the field as well. Their camaraderie is evident as Dhoni is affectionately known as 'Thala' and Raina is renowned as 'Chinna Thala'.

When was the foundation of friendship laid?
Suresh Raina writes in his book (autobiography) that the foundation of his friendship with the former Indian captain was laid during the 2005 Duleep Trophy. In those days, a match was being played in Gwalior in February 2005, in which Raina was very impressed by Dhoni's confidence, self-reliance and aggressive style of playing. After that, both of them were seen together in the camp organised in Bangalore for India's senior team. With time, their friendship grew so much that they even started sharing a room.

Dhoni and Raina retired on 15 August
MS Dhoni played his last international cricket match against New Zealand in July 2019. He had been away from cricket for more than a year, then on 15 August 2020, i.e. On India's 74th Independence Day, MS Dhoni announced his retirement by sharing a video on Instagram. The cricket world had not yet recovered from the news of Dhoni's retirement, then a few hours later Suresh Raina also shared a video on Instagram to announce his retirement. He told through the caption that he is saying goodbye to cricket.

Why did you retire on 15th August?
Suresh Raina had said in a media interview a long time ago, while giving the reason for retirement on 15 August, "We had already decided to retire on 15 August. Dhoni's jersey number is 7, my jersey number is 3. Both of them together make 73 and on 15 August 2020, India completed 73 years of independence. According to me, there could not have been a better day than that for retirement."

Suresh Raina was a part of the 2011 World Cup-winning Indian team, but the achievements of MS Dhoni as a captain speak volumes. Dhoni was appointed captain during the 2007 T20 World Cup, and he rested only after leading India to victory. In addition to this, India also won the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy under Dhoni's captaincy.