Ravi Shastri opens up on MS Dhoni’s shock retirement after Ashwin quits

When Ravichandran Ashwin chose to call time on his India career out of the blue on Wednesday after the third India vs Australia Test ended in a draw, former India coach Ravi Shastri could not help but draw parallels with the shock announcement from MS Dhoni in the dressing room that he was retiring from Tests.
Just like Ashwin retired from Tests in the middle of the series, Dhoni too said goode with one Test remaining. Dhoni, in fact, was captaining the team and his retirement meant that Virat Kohli had to take over the reins for the final Test in Sydney for a series which was already lost the Indian team. Dhoni’s retirement was a shock because India had managed to draw the Test at the MCG.
Narrating the scene on SEN Radio, Shastri said: “Dhoni didn’t wait. I was the coach. He said, Ravi, I need to have a chat with the boys for five minutes. Since we drew the game at the MCG, I said, sure. I thought he would say, ‘Boys, well done’. Instead, he just said, ‘Thank you. I’m done with this.’”
Shastri spoke of his shock at that announcement. “There’s one Test match to go back. He just, you know, just walked up there. Five-minute speech. No tantrums, no shenanigans. ‘I’m done. Thank you very much for your support. You know, I won’t be there in Sydney, but my total support for you guys.’ Because after that was the World Cup. And he was the captain of the World Cup side.”
Shastri then added: “I looked around the dressing room. I asked players if he had had a chat with them. No one had a clue. Even the guys who went out or spent time with him three days before that. No one had a clue he’s going to come and say what he did. And he had played 94 or 95 Test matches. Normally, you know, in India, a player of his stature, if he plays his 100th Test match and they had given that Test match to say Ranchi, the whole town would have been there at the ground to celebrate that 100th Test… But none of that stuff for him. He just said, ‘I want to pack my bags. I’m done with whites.’”

Why should you buy our Subscription?

You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be misled and misinformed.

Choose your subscription package