As a captain, MS Dhoni had numerous accomplishments to his name across all formats. Not only did he lead Indian team to three ICC titles, he also took Indian team to no. 1 Test ranking in 2009 as captain.The right-handed batsman last played for India in the 2019 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand. Since then, rumours have been circulating regarding Dhoni’s future for over a year.
In typical ‘Mahi’ fashion, Dhoni put a stop to the rumours as he announced his retirement with a video on Instagram with the caption: “Thanks. Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout.from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired.” As social media went into frenzy after the announcement, former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq said that he feels that the former India captain should have retired from the ground in front of the fans.
Speaking in a video uploaded on his Youtube channel ‘The Match Winner’, Inzamam-ul-Haq said: “Dhoni is that player who knew how to finish the match. Single-handedly, he could win matches. He is not the kind who will score a century in every match, but he built his innings in such a manner that the team finishes on the winning side.”
Inzamam added that Dhoni’s best ability as a captain was that he knew how to build players. “MS Dhoni is such a clever cricketer that he knew how to build players. His level of understanding of the sport was so good that he used to pick players and then turn them into great players. Suresh Raina and R Ashwin are two best players, MS Dhoni produced,” Inzamam said.
But Inzamam added that fans would have been happier if Dhoni had bowed out of cricket in front of them from the ground. “Dhoni has millions of fans across the globe who want to see him play on the ground. In my opinion, a player of such stature, shouldn’t have taken retirement while sitting at home. He should have announced retirement from the ground,” he said.
“This is the same thing, I once told Sachin Tendulkar, when he was about to take retirement. When you have such a big fanfare, you should ideally end your journey from the ground, after all, it is this ground where you earned such respect and stardom.
“If he had walked out from the game in front of all his fans, people would have felt happier, I would have felt happier. Because he has been such a great captain for India. His winning ratio, the way he led the team, the way he created players, he deserves a tribute from his fans at the ground,” Inzamam signed off.
Fans will get to see Dhoni once again on the cricket ground when the Indian Premier League season kicks off from September 19th in the UAE this year.
