Former Indian fielding coach R Sridhar strolled down memory lane to recall Team India’s shocking ODI World Cup 2019 semi-final defeat to New Zealand. Notably, India suffered an 18-run defeat to the Black Caps, bowing out of the tournament.
Speaking on former CSK batter Subramaniam Badrinath’s YouTube channel, Sridhar revealed that everyone in the dressing room knew it was Dhoni’s last game for India, even though he hadn’t announced it officially. He added that the dressing room was completely silent after India was eliminated.
“Though Dhoni didn’t announce his retirement then, everyone more or less knew that he had played his final match for India. He also cried, and tears were rolling from his eyes. It was such a rare moment. We all knew the vacuum it would create in the dressing room when a stellar role model like him left. Composure like his can’t be bought,” Sridhar said.
“It was very emotional in the dressing room. If Dhoni hadn’t got run out, India had a great chance of winning that World Cup as we were the team to beat. But, as we all know, he makes no fanfare about these things. For 30 to 35 minutes, no one spoke in the dressing room, and it was complete silence. A few of them were also crying,” he added.
Further, Sridhar disclosed that the then head coach Ravi Shastri had already informed Virat Kohli of Dhoni passing the captaincy baton to him at the perfect time. Notably, Kohli became India’s full-time Test captain in 2015, and emerged as an all-format captain later in 2017.
“Ravi Shastri told me instantly that if Virat leads the Indian red-ball team, it’ll go places. He was clear in 2014 itself that once Dhoni finishes, the Test would go to Kohli. Shastri told me that under Kohli, the way India plays in Tests would change. But he clearly told Virat that he would be the next Indian captain, but asked him to wait because Dhoni was such a mighty figure. Shastri told Kohli that Dhoni himself would pass the baton to him at the perfect time,” Sridhar noted.
