BIG NEWS: Former Indian captain MS Dhoni announces retirement

Bengaluru, August 15: MS Dhoni on Saturday (August 15) announced his retirement from cricket through a curt Instagram post that read "Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout, from 1929 hrs consider me as retired."

The 38-year-old Dhoni, one of the best match winners in ODI cricket, has played 350 ODIs for India and amassed 10773 runs at 50.58 with 10 hundreds and 73 fifties. His highest is 183. Dhoni has also played 98 T20Is, scoring 1617 runs with a highest of 56 and averaged a respectable 37.6.

However, Dhoni could be seen in action in the upcoming IPL 2020 that will be held in the UAE from September 19. He is drawn in to lead Chennai Super Kings.

Dhoni had retired from Test cricket in 2015 midway through the away series against Australia. The Jharkhand man made made 4876 runs from 90 Tests at 38.09 with seven hundreds and 33 fifties.

Dhoni will always be remembered as one of the finest finishers the game has ever seen in ODI cricket. Started off as an explosive batsman in his initial years, Dhoni settled into a clever accumulator while taking out big shots at will when the situation demanded.

Dhoni always took the game to the final few overs to give himself a better chance to succeed against the bowler, often under pressure to deliver against a batsman who can strike big. And his Helicopter shot will be a patented one.

He also remained one of the fittest Indian cricketers as he focussed on physical fitness from his initial years in international cricket. It helped him to perform the tri-pronged role of captain, batsman and wicketkeeper with aplomb for nearly 15 years.

As a wicketkeeper, he accounted for a record 321 catches and 123 stumpings in ODI cricket while in T20Is, he took 57 catches and effected 34 stumpings. In Test cricket, he grabbed 256 catches and made 38 stumpings.

But as with everything else in this world, age and time caught with Dhoni too, especially in the last couple of years.

Dhoni, who led Chennai Super Kings in the IPL since the inaugural edition in 2008, who struck terror as a batsman in bowlers slowed down in the said period and struggled to send the ball far as he used to do in younger days.

But his superb wicketkeeping kept him a force to reckon with and the spinners, especially Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, often credited Dhoni for his live tips from behind the wicket.

The last straw was his below par outing in the ICC World Cup 2019 in England where he struggled to acclerate in the death overs. Subsequently, Dhoni skipped the limited over version of the tour of the West Indies recently to serve Territorial Army. Perhaps, a sure hint about him exploring after-cricket options.