'Lambu, tune mujhe Test match mein chhod diya' - Ishant Sharma recalls MS Dhoni's words before his Test retirement

India bowling star Ishant Sharma will create history on Wednesday when he steps on the field for the third Test against England in Ahmedabad. He will become the first specialist pacer from India to breach the 100-Test mark. Legendary Kapil Dev had also breached the mark but he was not a specialist fast-bowler.

Overall, Ishant will become just the eleventh Indian to play 100 or more Tests. And as Ishant gears up for his milestone Test, he has revealed why his former India skipper MS Dhoni did not join the 100-Test club. Dhoni ended his Test career in 2014 during the tour of Australia. He brought down curtains on his career after representing India in 90 Tests.

With age on his side, Dhoni could have easily played at least ten more Tests. He, however, sprung a huge surprise by retiring from Tests all of a sudden. And Ishant has revealed the reason behind Dhoni’s sudden decision to retire from the longest format of the game. The fast bowler shared the secret while speaking to his teammate Ravichandran Ashwin for the latter’s YouTube channel.

MS Dhoni was always a team man: Ishant Sharma

Hailing MS Dhoni as a team man, Ishant Sharma revealed that the wicketkeeper-batsman decided to retire all of sudden because he wanted Wriddhiman Saha to be groomed. The Delhi star further stated that personal milestones were secondary to Dhoni and that’s why he did not bother about reaching the 100-Test mark.

“Although he was close to 100 Tests, he was always a team man. I remember he told me when we were in England that it is not important for him to play hundred Tests. Instead, he felt that we need to start grooming (Wriddhiman) Saha. That’s why he took the sudden decision to retire, I feel,” Ishant Sharma told Ashwin.

Speaking further, Ishant shared an anecdote from Dhoni’s last Test which was the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. The India pacer revealed that he was continuously taking injections in the match because of severe pain in his knee. Around the last session of the 4th day, Ishant communicated to Dhoni and told him that he could bowl no more. And he was taken aback by the reply from Dhoni.

“I felt very bad (on MS Dhoni’s retirement). I had taken many injections for that Melbourne Test match because I was experiencing severe pain in my knee. I did not know that Mahi bhai was going to retire. In fact, nobody knew that he was going to retire. So, I was taking an injection every session,” Ishant added.

“When it was almost Tea on Day 4, and Australia were about to declare I told Mahi bhai that I cannot take injections anymore. So, he told me, that’s okay. You don’t need to bowl now. Then something happened, and he told me, ‘lambu tune mujhe Test match mein chhod diya’ (you have deserted me in a Test match). I did not understand. Then he elaborated, ‘you left me midway in my last Test match’.

“I was stunned. I told him if I knew I would definitely have continued to play. So that was a really touching story. I didn’t know till the last day that he was retiring,” he concluded.