Incredible MS Dhoni, Amazing Raina! Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik pays retirement tribute

On August 15, 2020, MS Dhoni announcement from international cricket. "From 1929 hrs consider me as Retired," the 39-year-old icon wrote on his Instagram handle. A few minutes later, Suresh Raina followed suit by doing the same. Fans flooded social media with tributes for the two Indian cricketers, which included creative artwork. The International Cricket Council (ICC) recently shared a photo of intricate sand art made for the two cricketers in Odisha. 

Also read | Virat Kohli lauds MS Dhoni's 'selflessness' in emotional tribute video: MS Dhoni retirement

Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik pays tribute after Captain Cool, Suresh Raina retire from international cricket

The MS Dhoni-Suresh Raina tribute art was made by Sudarsan Pattnaik, who is a renowned international sand artist and the winner of the 2014 Padma Shri. Pattnaik's art was shared by the ICC, which he made on Odisha's Puri beach. Prior to Dhoni's art, Pattnaik had shared photos of sand art honouring COVID-19 warriors and soldiers on August 15. 

Pattnaik has till date represented India is over 50 international sand sculpture championships and has won 27 prizes for the country. Last year, he became the first Indian to win the Italian Sand Art Award at the International Scorrano Sand Nativity event held in Lecce, Italy (13 to 17 November 2019). He has also won the Double Gold Medal at Solo International Sand Art Contest at Mervala in 2012, along with the gold medal for the People's Choice Award at 3rd Moscow World Sand Sculpture Championship. 

Also read | Suresh Raina retires, follows MS Dhoni again by playing Bollywood song in video of top moments: MS Dhoni retirement

Dhoni retirement announcement 

MS Dhoni retired after his 16-year-long career as India's most successful captain in limited-over internationals having won the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 50-over World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. Dhoni, 39, last played for the country in 2019 during the ICC World Cup Semi-Finals against New Zealand. That was Dhoni's 350th ODI, where he scored 50 off 72 balls before being run-out by Martin Guptill. 

Also read | R Madhavan on MS Dhoni & Raina's retirement: 'Cricket will never be the same again for me'

Suresh Raina retires

The 33-year-old Raina played 18 Tests, 226 ODIs and 78 T20Is during his international career of 13 years. He also captained the team for some time, where India won 3-2 during the West Indies series and 2-0 with Bangladesh in ODIs. The Indian team also bagged a 2-0 T20 victory against Zimbabwe. He played his last ODI on July 17, 2018, against England. 

IPL 2020: Raina, MS Dhoni will play for the Chennai Super Kings

Currently, Dhoni and Raina are training along with Deepak Chahar, Piyush Chawla and Kedar Jadhav at the MA Chidambaram stadium before IPL 2020 begins in September. Originally scheduled on March 29, the league was postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis and will now be held in the UAE. CSK will start their season with a game against Mumbai Indians on September 19. 

Also read | MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina announce retirement: Here's what happened at CSK camp in Chennai

(Image source: Sudarsan Pattnaik official Twitter)