New Delhi, July 11: While many voices from different quarters have been asking MS Dhoni to retire from all formats of international cricket, he has found a strong supporter in Lata Mangeshkar. The Nightingale of Bollywood has requested the former skipper to not consider retirement as Team India needs him and his game.
After Team India’s defeat at the hands of New Zealand at the semi-final of the ongoing ICC World Cup 2019, Lata Mangeshkar took to Twitter to support the team. In a tweet, she requested MS Dhoni to not consider taking retirement. She wrote, “Namaskar M S Dhoni ji.Aaj kal main sun rahi hun ke Aap retire hona chahte hain.Kripaya aap aisa mat sochiye.Desh ko aap ke khel ki zaroorat hai aur ye meri bhi request hai ki Retirement ka vichar bhi aap mann mein mat laayiye.@msdhoni (Hello, MS Dhoni ji. Of late, I have been hearing that you want to retire. Please don’t think that way. The country needs your game and it is my personal request too that you don’t think of retirement.)”
Encouraging Team India after their loss, the singer dedicated the song Akash Ke Us Paar Bhi by Gulzar to the Men in Blue. She wrote, “Kal bhalehi hum jeet na paaye ho lekin hum haare nahi hain.Gulzar sahab ka cricket ke liye likha hua ye geet main hamari team ko dedicate karti hun (We might not have been able to win yesterday, but we have not lost. I dedicate this song by Gulzar sahab to our team).”
Speculation is rife that MS Dhoni is about to bid adieu to playing cricket after India’s World Cup 2019 tournament. However, there is no official word on Dhoni retiring from the 50-over format of the game yet.
The two-time World Cup-winning captain was left devastated when he was run out in the 49th over of India’s chase against New Zealand in yesterday’s World Cup 2019 semi-final in Manchester. The former captain had led Team India to victory in ICC T20 World Cup 2007 and ICC World Cup 2011.
On Wednesday, after the failure of the top and middle order, Dhoni, who came in on the field at number seven, kept the hopes of India alive by helping the team recover from 92 for 6 in their chase of 240. He scored 50 off 72 balls.
Apart from Lata Mangeshkar, former India captain Sourav Ganguly also defended MS Dhoni’s approach in the semi-final. He said that Dhoni is still one of the greatest finishers of the game. “As a finisher, he has tremendous respect all around the world. And it was actually not over. It was tough, but he had the ability to finish matches on his own and get the big hits. That’s why he leaves it to the last,” Sourav Ganguly said.
At a post-match press conference yesterday, when Virat Kohli was asked about Dhoni’s retirement and if Captain Cool has spoken about his future plans, the current Indian captain said, “No, he hasn’t told us anything about his future.”
Over the past 24 hours, since India began its game against New Zealand, social media has been supporting and thanking MS Dhoni for his fantastic innings in yesterday’s match. Trends like #ThankYouDhoni were among the top ones in India all of yesterday and are still going strong today.
