‘Farewell to a great player and an even better opponent’ – Shakib Al Hasan pays tribute to MS Dhoni

On Saturday, August 15, MS Dhoni left the scene without making much of a fuss. Instead of calling for a press-conference, the now 39-year-old from Jharkhand took to his Instagram handle to announce his retirement. He posted a video with one of his favourite songs and the background showed various highs and lows of his career for Team India over the last 16 years.

For the last 12 months, reports of him, hanging his boots did the rounds. And on India’s 74th Independence Day, Dhoni decided to call it a day. Thereafter, a number of cricketers from all across the globe lauded him on a wonderful career. From Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar to many others, a number of them opined on how the veteran successfully plied his trade in his career.

Shakib praises MS Dhoni  

In the meantime, Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan didn’t forget to heap praises on the former Indian cricketer. The 33-year-old, who is currently serving his ban from the ICC, called MSD an inspiring individual and showed his respect for him as an opponent.

He took to his official Facebook account and wrote, “Farewell to a great player and an even better opponent- MS Dhoni. Your time in international cricket has been exceptional and inspiring to millions. We only wish you the best in your future endeavors.”

Shakib has played against Dhoni both at the international level and in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Even as Dhoni has been a linchpin of the Chennai Super Kings’ unit, Shakib has plied his trade for the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Before last year’s action, SRH let go of Shakib since he wouldn’t have been eligible to play in the 2020 IPL.

Here is Shakib’s post: –

As far as Shakib’s career is concerned, he hasn’t played any form of cricket since representing Barbados Tridents in the 2019 Caribbean Premier League (CPL). He wasn’t a part of the Tigers’ away series against India and Pakistan.

Shakib missed the Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) as well. Bangladesh are scheduled to tour Sri Lanka for a bilateral series later this year and whether or not Shakib makes his comeback through the series remains to be seen.