Had told MS Dhoni I would love to see his World Cup-winning six before saying goodbye to the world: Sunil Gavaskar

India veteran MS Dhoni, on Saturday, drew curtains on an illustrious international career. The former Indian skipper announced his decision in an Instagram post with a video depicting his entire journey for the national side.

In a career spanning over 90 Tests, 350 ODIs and 98 T20Is, Dhoni scored more than 15,000 international runs. He also proved his leadership skills by lifting the T20 World Cup in 2007, ODI World Cup in 2011 and Champions Trophy in 2013.

One of the best moments of Dhoni’s glorious career is his 2011 World Cup-winning six against Sri Lanka at Wankhede. The whole nation stood on its feet when the ‘Mahi’ smoked Nuwan Kulasekara for a six. Remaining unbeaten on 91, Dhoni steered the Men in Blue to World Cup glory as India hunted down a challenging 275-run target.

Dhoni ended India’s 28-year-long wait as he launched Kulasekara for a six over long-on in the penultimate over. The sight of Dhoni hitting final runs for India is still fresh in the mind of every Indian fan. Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar, upon Dhoni’s retirement, recalled the incident when he had told the wicketkeeper-batsman that he would love to watch his 2011 World Cup-winning six one last time before he says goodbye to the world.

I was at the ground when I met MSD: Sunil Gavaskar

Gavaskar revealed that he had met Dhoni during the IPL season after the 2011 World Cup. After putting his wish in front of the Ranchi stalwart, Dhoni had responded with a modest smile.

“A few days later, the IPL started. CSK were playing their first game. I was at the ground and I met MSD and I remember saying to him that look ‘if I know that in this world, I have got a few couple of minutes left, then I would ask somebody to put that shot on, then I would love to see that shot and then say goodbye to this world. I would go with a smile on my face,” Gavaskar told India Today after Dhoni’s retirement from international cricket on Saturday.

“That’s exactly what I said to MSD and MSD of course was very modest about. He just smiled and didn’t say anything. That’s what I genuinely feel,” he added.