Mumbai: He never got engaged in heated exchanges with opponents, unlike his successor Virat Kohli, neither did he celebrate with fist in the air scoring the winning runs (ICC World Cup 2011 being the only exception).
But on Tuesday, Mahendra Singh Dhoni got emotional when he broke the news of his retirement in the dressing room.
His teammates hugged him and started, the selfie marathon. Suresh Raina was the first to post a photo with the skipper on social media.
Valiant while you led. Valiant in your departure. #Respect @msdhoni pic.twitter.com/w6xdnebG3s
— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) December 30, 2014Congratulations on a wonderful test career, You have made INDIA proud, thanks for the memories @msdhoni pic.twitter.com/8cID1zlQF3
— cheteshwar pujara (@cheteshwar1) December 31, 2014My best wishes go with u..may u have days full of laughter and happiness.we will miss u in test cricket captain cool pic.twitter.com/sjWzS0wwIQ
— Umesh Yaadav (@y_umesh) December 30, 2014Team India director Ravi Shastri told a website: “When Dhoni walked into the dressing room, got the team together and said what he had to, he caught us all off guard. There was no drama. He said, ‘I can’t play all formats anymore, so I'm announcing my retirement from Tests.'
He has always been someone who will do what he wants to, and he stayed true to that till the last moment. To have the guts to say to his team that he could not go on playing all formats, it tells you how honest he is with himself and his mates."
BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel confirmed that somebody present in the dressing room told him that Dhoni got a bit emotional while announcing his decision.
