Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday shared his childhood dream of becoming a painter and his plans after quitting cricket, fuelling fresh speculations about his retirement.
Displaying few of his paintings amid the chatter around a possible retirement after the upcoming ICC World Cup, Dhoni said in a video, “I wanted to share a secret with all of you. Right from childhood I always wanted to become an artist, I have played a lot of cricket so I decided it’s time for me now to take up what I wanted so I have made a few paintings.”
The 37-year-old Dhoni, a two-time World Cup-winning captain, is set to travel to the United Kingdom with the Indian team for the showpiece, which could be the last of his illustrious career.
The first painting was a landscape drawing, the second one was of what he described as ‘something which can become a mode of transport in future.’
Calling the third one his favourite, Dhoni said it was a replica of him while batting in Indian Premier League franchise Chennai Super Kings’ jersey.
Dhoni also said that he will soon hold an exhibition of his paintings and asked for suggestions and advice from his fans in this regard.
He shared his favourite painting, which according to him, is his self-portrait holding the cricket bat in the air.
Dhoni, who had retired from Test cricket in 2014, has amassed 10,500 ODI runs from 341 games, averaging 50.72 with 10 centuries and 71 fifties.
India will enter the World Cup as one of the favourites alongside hosts England and Australia. The Virat Kohli-led side start its campaign against South Africa on June 5 at The Rose Bowl in Southampton.
