On the evening of Independence Day, a much-loved national figure declared his own independence. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, 39, the iconic ‘Captain Cool’, India’s greatest-ever wicket-keeper batsman and arguably its finest and most successful captain, announced his retirement from international cricket.
Sharing a video on Instagram, of great moments from his sixteen-year career, accompanied by the Hindi playback singer Mukesh’s classic song, ‘Pal do Pal Ka Shayar Hoon’ (‘I am a poet of one moment or two’), he wrote blandly, “Thanks a lot for your love and support throughout. From 1929 hrs consider me as Retired.”
The departure was typical of the man — abrupt, understated, brooking no discussion. Just as he had, with no fuss, announced his retirement from Test cricket in the course of a tour of Australia through an email from the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India), and similarly tossed off his decision to give up the captaincy in One-Day cricket, so too he had left the international stage in his own way, and on his own terms.