There are such similarities in the retirement stories of Messi and Dhoni that even you may find it difficult to believe. There are many interesting similarities in the way both of them bid farewell to their national teams after a long and illustrious international career in their respective sports.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on 15 August 2020 at the age of 39.

Instead of any big press conference, he informed the world about the end of his international career by posting a video on Instagram. The special thing was that Dhoni chose a very memorable time for retirement and announced his decision at exactly 7.29 pm on 15th August. After about six years, something similar was seen in the world of football also. Lionel Messi announced his international retirement from the Argentina national team on 31st August and at that time he was also 39 years old. Like Dhoni, Messi also said goodbye to his international career through an emotional message on Instagram. Another coincidence of July is also seen in the story of both of them – Dhoni had lost the World Cup in July, while Messi had also suffered the pain of losing the final of the FIFA World Cup in July.

However, the biggest mark of both their careers is not just their departure, but also the historic successes achieved as captains. Under Dhoni's captaincy, India won the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. On the other hand, Messi also won almost every major international title with Argentina. They won the 2021 Copa America, 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2024 Copa America.

But Messi has said goodbye to Argentina, not to football. He continues to play club football for Inter Miami. Similarly, even after Dhoni's retirement from international cricket, his yellow chapter continued in IPL. This means that the fans did not completely lose both the legends, only their presence in the national team jersey ended. The retirement of Dhoni and Messi reminds us that some legends leave the game, but their stories never retire.