MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina both announced retired from International cricket. Dhoni was first to announce his decision, and then his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) teammate followed the footsteps. While Dhoni's last appearance for India was in 2019, Raina last time donned India jersey in 2018. Both the players were out of Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) contract list. Dhoni and Raina will continue to serve their Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise. MS Dhoni Retires From International Cricket, Suresh Raina Follows His Footsteps.

Interestingly, couple of months back Raina had urged BCCI to clear the non-contracted players to play in the overseas leagues. "I hope the BCCI can get together with the ICC or with franchises and allow players who don't have BCCI contracts to play in overseas leagues," Raina had said during an Instagram Live chat. MS Dhoni Retires: From Jersey No. 7 to Birth Date, Some Astonishing Facts About Former Indian Captain’s Connection With Number Seven.

"Yusuf (Pathan), myself, Robin Uthappa – a lot of quality players (could) ... go overseas and learn a lot. We aren't in the BCCI contracts list, some of us don't have IPL contracts. We aren't playing international cricket, and the competition in domestic cricket isn't what it is at the international level," he added then.

Back then Raina also felt that playing in overseas leagues helps fringe players to stay in retention for national duty. "If we can get three months of quality cricket, whether it's the CPL or the Big Bash ... it can help us stay ready (for a national call-up). Players from other countries are able to play in these leagues, and a lot of them have made international comebacks after doing well in them," Raina had said.

As per BCCI's current policy, a player will not only have to retire from international cricket but domestic including IPL as well to get the permission to play in other leagues around the world. With Dhoni and Raina retiring, it will be interesting to see if BCCI tweaks the policy and allows its players to play outside Indian T20 league.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 16, 2020 04:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).