Dhoni in full flow in Melbourne.
Even though people have been predicting and calling for his retirement for quite some tie now, Indian icon MS Dhoni has proved during the ODI series in Australia that the team still needs him and he can still pull them out of trouble like he has been doing for the last 14 years. So it didn't come as a surprise when the former captain took a dig at his detractors after the win in the last ODI in Melbourne while handing the match-ball to batting coach Sanjay Bangar.
During the customary handshakes after the completion of the game, Dhoni while handing over the ball to Bangar said: "Ball le lo nahi to bolega retirement le rahe ho (Take the ball otherwise they will say that I'm retiring)".
Here is the video:
If you are confused by what Dhoni said here is the context: it was during the 3rd ODI between India and England when Dhoni had taken the match ball from the umpires after hosts England beat India to win the three-match series 2-1.
Many speculations and fan-made theories suggested that it could have been the last time Dhoni donned the Indian jersey, as it was during the India-Australia Test series when the wicketkeeper-batsman collected a wicket after drawing the third Test. It was at that time on December 30th, when Dhoni announced his retirement from Test cricket.
India clinched their first ever bilateral ODI series win in Australia on Friday in Melbourne when MS Dhoni took the side home with a gritty 87* in a stiff chase. The ex-captain who was adjudged the Man of the Series for his three successive half-centuries in the 3-match series thus managed to respond to all the criticism coming his way for the past year or so in the best way possible - with his bat.
