Dhoni retired today for India's chances at the 2015 World Cup, says former coach

Mumbai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni may have surprised the cricketing world by hanging up his pads after the drawn Test against Australia in Melbourne that concluded on Tuesday. But one man wasn’t shocked at his decision, Chanchal Bhattacharyya – his first coach. The veteran said, “Mahi (as he is fondly called) did the right thing at the right time. I knew about it.”

“I support his decision because we drew the match from a difficult situation with him on the crease. Had we lost, it could have led to murmurs with people criticising him,” he added.

The coach also pointed out to a television interview of Dhoni early this year where he hinted at retiring. “When the media questioned him about captaincy, he had answered saying he would take the right decision when the time comes,” recalled the 51-year-old.

Knowing Dhoni from a young age, Bhattacharyya told this correspondent that the main reason behind his retirement is ICC World Cup 2015.

“The World Cup is coming to India. That is the reason he quit Tests. He will make sure he defends the title. And he did not want people pointing fingers at him,” said Bhattacharyya.

Does he think that his ward will stick around even after the World Cup? “See, ideally he should have played more Tests too, he is only 33. I think he should continue with ODIs even after the mega event.”

Bhattacharyya foresees Bengal player Wriddhiman Saha as Dhoni’s worthy successor behind the stumps.

“Saha is experienced, has already gone for tours with the team. Knowing the dressing room ambience and adjusting to it is a big factor. He is already in the limelight for he knows the unit well,” he said. He dismissed Kerala lad Sanju Samson’s chances calling him inexperienced.

However, Bhattacharyya took Dhoni under his wings when the wicketkeeper-batsman was only 12.

Sharing an anecdote which also highlights the Indian captain’s discipline, the coach said:

“Once I had punished his entire school team for losing a match. The punishment was to do 15 front roll-back rolls. Ideally, if you do that more than 10 times, you will tend to throw up for you got to run in reverse direction once you stop.

None of the boys were willing to do it until Dhoni came and said, ‘Sir jo bol rahe hai, humko karna chahiye, woh hamare saath hai, humko bhi unke saath rehna chahiye (what Sir is saying, we should do it, if he is with us, we should co-operate too). He did the whole round and following him, others did it too. Today whatever he has achieved, it is because of this discipline,” Bhattacharyya signed off.