When MS Dhoni Wanted To Retire After Hitting His Maiden Test Ton

It has been a little more than 24 hours since former Indian captain MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket; however, the tributes have not stopped pouring. MS Dhoni officially walked away from top-level cricket on Saturday via an Instagram post, having played his final international match on July 2019.

Meanwhile, former Indian batsman VVS Laxman has recalled two incidents of the keeper-batsman in Tests.

Also Read: Indian Cricket Will Realise How Good MS Dhoni Was Now That He’s Gone: Nasser Hussain

MS Dhoni was a giant in limited-overs cricket; however, was not as renowned in Test cricket. Despite that, his Test career lasted 90 matches which produced 4876 runs at a reasonably healthy average of 38.09. The 39-year old’s first of six centuries in the format in 2006 against Pakistan in Faisalabad. The match in Faisalabad was one of those which VVS Laxman remembered.

VVS Laxman underlined that there are two instances of the keeper-batsman that he would never forget and began with his maiden Test century.

The 45-year old recalled that after reaching the dressing room, the Jharkhand cricketer announced that he is done with Test cricket and that he does not want anything more to do with it. The 350-ODI veteran top-scored for his team with 148 in India’s first innings that eventually resulted in a draw.

“Two instances of MS Dhoni that I will never ever forget. The first one was when he got his first Test hundred against Pakistan at Faisalabad. I still remember him coming back into the dressing room, raising his arms and loudly saying that – (mai hundred maara Test cricket mein, bas yaar) ‘I am going to announce my retirement. MS Dhoni has scored a hundred in Test match cricket. This is enough. I don’t want anything more from Test match cricket’,” Laxman stated in the Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected.

VVS Laxman sheds light on the second memory with MS Dhoni:

The 134-Test veteran opened up on the second memory with MS Dhoni when they played a Test match against Australia at Nagpur in 2008. Laxman recollected Anil Kumble announcing his retirement two games before that in Delhi due to which Dhoni took over as the captain.

“The second time was when we played the Test match against Australia at Nagpur. He was the captain of the Indian team because Anil had announced his retirement two matches before that in Delhi,” VVS Laxman conceded.

MS Dhoni chose to drive the bus from the stadium till the hotel, asking the bus driver to go and sit behind. They were all left fascinated that the skipper of the Indian team is driving the vehicle.

“MS Dhoni suddenly asked the team bus driver to just go and sit behind and he drove the bus from the ground to the hotel in Nagpur. We all were awestruck, the captain of the Indian team driving the team bus,” he added.

Also Read: MS Dhoni Shouldn’t Have Retired Sitting At Home: Inzamam-ul-Haq