The 2019 World Cup semi-final loss was MS Dhoni's final international match for India.
Former India captain MS Dhoni recalled the Men in Blue’s loss to New Zealand in the semi-final of the 2019 ICC World Cup. The match that was played in Manchester saw New Zealand defeating India by 18 runs to knock them out of tournament.
New Zealand had batted first and posted 239/8 with Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor scoring fifties. The match was marred by rain and India batted on the reserve day under cloudy conditions in the chase.
The New Zealand pacers reduced India to 92/6 in 30 overs. However, Ravindra Jadeja (77) and MS Dhoni (50) tried their best to take India to an improbable win.
But with India needing 22 runs in the last 9 balls, MS Dhoni was runout going for a second run thanks to a direct hit by Martin Guptill. And with Dhoni’s dismissal, India's chances for a win also ended.
This was also the final international match for MS Dhoni as he announced his retirement in August 2020. Years have passed since the infamous heartbreak, and Dhoni has finally opened up on his pain of failure to not lift the title in 2019.
During an event, MS Dhoni was asked about the 2019 heartbreak and the legend stated that it took some time for him to get over the pain of losing the semifinal.
"It was a difficult one because I knew that this will be my last World Cup, so it would have been good to be on the winning side. It was a heartbreak moment, so we accepted the result and we tried to move on. Time thoda lagta hai aur World Cup ke baad thoda time mil bhi jata hai. Maine toh uske baad international khela nahi hai toh mujhe toh kaafi time mila hai. (It takes time and one gets some time after the World Cup. I haven't played any internationally after that, so I got a lot of time). So, yes, it was a heartbreak but at the same time you have to get out of it. So you just accept that you tried your best, but you were not able to win it," MS Dhoni said.