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'He never thinks about individual goals. He retired to give a chance to others.'
The definition of success for Mahendra Singh Dhoni was always about making his teammates and fans happy and he retired from international cricket to give a chance to others, revealed manager and childhood friend Arun Pandey on Saturday.
"It is a very emotional moment for everyone as well as for me. We should respect his decision. He always used to take decisions as per the requirement of his team and country. He never thinks about individual goals. He retired to give a chance to others. For him, success was always making teammates happy and his fans happy," Pandey said.
Pandey pointed out that Dhoni never changed as a person, even after achieving fame and glory around the world.
"Before 2004, when he debuted for the Indian team and after that year there was no change in him as a person. For him, having leadership responsibility was just inside the ground. After the game was over, his job was over and he treated his friends and acquaintances off the field well. He always enjoyed playing the game and leadership was just an added responsibility," said Pandey, who was also the producer of Dhoni's biopic MS Dhoni: The Untold Story.
"We feel proud of the fact that he represented the country. He has left a legacy and built the team in such a way that even in his absence, the national team would continue doing well. Dhoni's thought has always been that he raised the standard of performances of others," he added.
When asked that whether Dhoni would have wanted to play a farewell game before retiring, Pandey said: "He never thought of a farewell game. He is much above this. His sole focus was to motivate others to perform. Dhoni was a trend-setter and motivated others. He posted a song along with the information that he retired which says 'Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon'. The song says that today he is there but tomorrow there will be someone else."
"It was a golden era in which Dhoni played. He won the ICC T20 World Cup 2007, ICC ODI World Cup 2011 and ICC Champions Trophy 2013. We will keep on celebrating his achievements," he added.