In Frame: Sachin Tendulkar celebrates the wicket of Inzamam-ul-Haq with MS Dhoni. (Archive) MS Dhoni on Saturday evening broke the silence on his future on international cricket by sharing a post on Instagram. The post was a four-minute long clip of Dhoni’s international career, and the caption read: “thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. from 1929 hrs consider me as retired.”
Ex-Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq wished Dhoni the best but also said this was not the right way for a player like him to announce his retirement.
In a video released on his YouTube channel Inzamam ul Haq – The Match Winner, the former cricketer said, “Dhoni has millions of fan across the globe who want to see him play on the ground. In my opinion a player of such stature, shouldn’t have taken retirement while sitting at home. He should have announced retirement from the ground.”
Explaining his views, Inzaman recalled a conversation he had with Sachin during his playing days, when he had suggested that Sachin end his journey where it had begun.
“This is the same thing, I once told Sachin Tendulkar. When you have such a big fanfare, you should ideally end your journey from the ground, after all it is this ground where you earned such respect and stardom.”
“In my opinion, even Dhoni should have done the same then his fans would have been more happy, including me since I rate him as the best Indian skipper,” Inzamam said.
‘Dhoni knew how to build players’
In his video, the former Pakistan great rated Dhoni as one of the most talented player the sport has had. He also credited the wicketkeeper-batsman for turning “players into great players.”
“MS Dhoni is such a clever cricketer that he knew how to built players. Suresh Raina and R Ashwin are two best players, MS Dhoni produced.”
“His level of understanding of the sport was so good that he used to pick players and then turn them into great players,” he said.
Inzamam also hailed Dhoni’s finishing abilities, saying it is this quality which made him a great player.
“He is that player who knew how to finish the match. He is not the kind who will score a century in every match, but he built his innings in such a manner that the team finishes on the winning side.”
“Single-handedly, he could win matches. For example the 2011 World Cup, he came to bat at the No 4 position reflected the amount of confidence he carried with himself,” the Pakistan great said.