Surehs Raina lifted the lift on his decision to retire from international cricket on the same day as MS Dhoni in 2020 and claimed the former Indian captain was shocked to see his actions. Raina played most of his career for both Team India and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) under Dhoni’s leadership, with both players also developing a close friendship.
13 months after playing his final game for Team India, Dhoni aged 39 and then announced he was quitting international cricket on 15th August 2020 through an Instagram post late in the evening, famously at 7:29 PM IST. Shortly later, Raina also quit international cricket despite being just 33 at the time.
The 2011 World Cup winner revealed that he made the announcement and told Dhoni afterwards in the dressing room. For those unversed, the players were in the CSK bio-bubble at the time while preparing to fly to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the 2020 season of the Indian Premier League. Raina claimed Dhoni was shocked at his hearing his actions.
“It’s the game, right? You live for it as a player. You do so much for the country, parents sacrificed so much, but at that moment I felt this is the best. Because all these things happen… you wanted to spend time with your family. At that point, whether I was 32 or 33, whatever the age was… But in the dressing room when he did it, I went in and said ‘It’s done.’ He goes ‘Ye Kya Kiya Tune’ (‘What did you just do?’,)” said Raina in an interaction on Aakash Chopra’s YouTube Channel.
At the time of the announcement, the left-handed had not played for India for over two years with his last appearance coming in 2018. He missed out on making the 2019 World Cup squad too. However, he claimed he had no regret over leaving the game early.
“No regret, to be very honest. I think I am fortunate I represented my state, my country… and whatever is written, happens. Why should I have any regrets now, Aakash? There was one roof, five brothers, one sister, dad was in the army, the family had a completely different background… now we stay in the best hotels, eat the best food…”
“Because all those things… you don’t regret playing cricket. No, I didn’t have any, to be honest. No regret, completely unbothered,” Raina said.
“After that, in the IPL, you look at how many years I played, won so many trophies… but that was a different passion, that era was different, the learnings were different, things were different. You play, you enjoy yourself, but it was a different kind of fun,” Raina added.
Suresh Raina On Bond With MS Dhoni
Raina elaborated on his bond with MS Dhoni and pointed out that the skipper sacrificed his batting position for him, which made him put in the extra effort and want to perform for him.
“I think at that time you played for the captain, you played for the team. But why I said captain… because I feel that at the batting position I got an opportunity, the captain sacrificed his own position. He used to bat higher up when Dada was captain, but he took the responsibility saying, ‘Yuvi Pa (Yuvraj Singh), you go up, Suresh you play here, I am sitting here.’
“So I thought if this guy is showing more belief in my abilities than his own, then I have to perform for him. We are all part of the team. I said I will play with all my heart—whether it’s fielding or bowling. That’s why I think when you reach such a stage, you don’t think with your brain anymore; you become emotional, you think with your heart. Where the heart gets attached, after that, whether it’s friendship… it’s the same thing, you play for thousands of years, you enjoy things a lot,” said Raina.
“You know how he is as a person. But I think if someone sacrificed so much for you, then you have that… there should be a capacity to give back. Because everyone has money, but you need a big heart to spend it. So we had that heart for friendship, and it will always remain,” he added.
Raina pointed out how Dhoni went through a tough period as a captain after the 2011 World Cup when the team travelled to England and lost the Test series 4-0. He claimed Dhoni was like an elder brother to him and valued him the most.
“That was a tough time after the 2011 World Cup when we went to England… then I was captain in the West Indies, then we lost the Test series there—we won 2-1 or 1-0 in ODIs—then we lost 4-0 in the Test series in England, he was very low. In ODIs I said no problem, we are working hard now. There were lots of injuries, the ball was moving differently. Then ODIs started… I said I have to do something very special. Then the way we tore apart England in ODIs, the batting that happened, every player gave a tremendous performance,” said Raina.
“So he was a leader at the same time. I feel it’s like an elder brother at home doing so much… ‘Let’s buy something for him… but he says no, work hard next time and earn it for yourself…’ So that kind of bonding develops. You play together, live together 250 out of 365 days… so you know each other in and out. Then you have the tendency to give it back to the game and the country,” he concluded.