Age is just a number. Some of the Indian players have actually proved this with their performances. There is a long list of such players that includes the likes of MS Dhoni and Piyush Chawla. The two are still active in the Indian Premier League. While Chawla is 35, 43-year-old Dhoni is also aging like fine wine. Both the players were the part of IPL 2024. Dhoni appeared for Chennai Super Kings and Chawla played for Mumbai Indians. Though both of them are close to their retirements from the game of cricket, neither Dhoni nor Chawla have shown any keen interest towards the decision.
“Will Piyush Chawla retire first or MS Dhoni,” asked host Shubhankar Mishra on his show.
“Mahi bhai (MS Dhoni),” replied Chawla before sharing a laugh.
“A while ago, Prithvi Shaw told me ‘PC bhai bas karo yaar ab’. I said, I’ve played with Sachin paaji, and now playing with his son. I am playing with you, and after playing with your son, I will retire,” the veteran India spinner added.
Chawala made his India debut in 2007. Besides being MS Dhoni’s India teammate, Chawla has also been the member of India’s 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup winning teams. Notably, Dhoni was the captain of the side in both the events.
Dhoni called time on his international career in 2020, but out-of-favour Chawla has not made any formal announcement of his retirement.
In another interview, Dhoni’s former India teammate Mohammed Shami had revealed the player’s retirement strategy.
“You (media) guys have been putting a question mark on his future. The man himself says, ‘Dekha Jayega’ (let’s see),” Shami had said on Shubhankar Mishra’s YouTube channel.
“I had this conversation with Mahi bhai, asking ‘When should a player retire?’. He said, ‘First when you yourself get bored and second, Jab lage ki laat padne wali hai (when you realise that you would be kicked out of the team).’
“But the first and foremost thing is that when you stop enjoying the game, it’s a sign that your time has come. Better you choose the best moment to retire. Because your body starts intimating you if you can’t sustain a particular format. That’s when a player should call it time,” Shami had added.
