Former India captain MS Dhoni had quit Test cricket on Australia tour in 2014-15.
Fast bowler Ishant Sharma is featuring in his 100th Test match as India takes on England in the third Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. He is only the second Indian pacer to achieve the milestone after Kapil Dev.
Ahead of the match, Ishant had a chat with R Ashwin on his YouTube channel. He recalled the Test series against Australia in 2014-15, which was the last time MS Dhoni featured in the longest format.
None of the players had any idea that the former India captain is going to retire. “I felt very bad (on MS Dhoni’s retirement). I had taken many injections for that Melbourne Test match because I was experiencing severe pain in my knee. I did not know that Mahi bhai was going to retire. In fact, nobody knew that he was going to retire. So, I was taking an injection every session,” Ishant said.
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“When it was almost Tea on Day 4, and Australia were about to declare… I told Mahi bhai that I cannot take injections any more. So, he told me, that’s okay. You don’t need to bowl now. Then something happened, and he told me, ‘lambu tune mujhe Test match mein chhod diya’ (you have deserted me in a Test match). I did not understand. Then he elaborated, ‘you left me midway in my last Test match’”, Ishant added.
Everyone was surprised by Dhoni's decision to quit Test cricket suddenly. Ishant was stunned after the then India captain revealed he featured in a Test match for the last time. “I was stunned. I told him if I knew I would definitely have continued to play. So that was a really touching story. I didn’t know till the last day that he was retiring.”
Dhoni would have easily completed 100 Tests as he retired after playing 90 matches. But the Jharkhand cricketer wanted to make way for Wriddhiman Saha.
“Although he was close to 100 Tests, he was always a team man. I remember he told me he when we were in England that it is not important for him to play hundred Tests. Instead, he felt that we need to start grooming (Wriddhiman) Saha. That’s why he took the sudden decision to retire, I feel,” Ishant said.