During the 2019 ODI World Cup, MS Dhoni was towards the final phase of his career. In the tournaments prior to it, Dhoni was actually in good form, having won the Player of the Series in his last tour of Australia. In the 2019 ODI World Cup, Dhoni had a good tournament with the bat. Unfortunately, the end was not good.
Both for India and Dhoni, it was a heartbreak. After dominating the group stage of the tournament, India lost in the semifinal to New Zealand. MS Dhoni was the last hope for India in the match. Unfortunately, he was dismissed by a runout, which put an end to India's campaign in the World Cup. It eventually turned out to be Dhoni's last match in international cricket.
Recently, during the match between India and New Zealand in the ODI World Cup 2023, Sanjay Bangar, who was the batting coach of India in the World Cup 2019, was in the commentary box. He revealed that the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Dhoni, and Hardik could not control India's loss against New Zealand and were in tears.
'Once I quit cricket there was no way I would be representing my country' - MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni appeared in an interview recently and was reminded about Bangar's statement by a reporter. Dhoni replied saying, "It is difficult to control the emotions when you lose a close game. To me that was the last day I played for India. That day I retired (in my head) although I announced it a year later." Dhoni said he was mentally prepared to retire from international cricket after the match.
Further, MS Dhoni talked about the emotions that were running in his mind after the dismissal. The former Indian cricketer said "You are high on emotions (on retirement day). The only thing you have done in the last 15 years is to represent your country. Then comes a day when there is no chance of representing your country. Once I quit cricket there was no way I would be representing my country. So, all of those things made me high on emotions."