Chennai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni dropped a bombshell on Tuesday with his announcement of immediate retirement from Test cricket. The most successful and celebrated skipper has passed the baton to Virat Kohli, who will lead the team at the fourth Test to be held in Sydney from January 6.
After India lost the ongoing Test series to Australia with a drawn third Test in Melbourne, Dhoni sat in a 15-minute post-match press conference. He cheerfully discussed the game, but gave no hint of his retirement which was later announced by the board in a tweet.
Read: Former cricketers express surprise at Dhoni's decision to retire
“One of India’s greatest Test captains under whose leadership India became the No. 1 team in the Test rankings Dhoni, has decided to retire from Test cricket citing the strain of playing all formats of cricket,” the BCCI said in a statement.
The announcement was a bolt from the blue as Dhoni, despite his poor overseas track record as captain, had not given any indication that he would step down in the near future. The BCCI said Dhoni has chosen to retire with immediate effect in order to concentrate on ODI and T20 formats.
BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said “Dhoni’s decision wasn’t taken in haste” and came after a lot of “soul searching and deliberations.”
Read: MS Dhoni did not take decision to retire in haste, says BCCI
Although Patel did not divulge details of his discussions with Dhoni, he did admit that he knew that Dhoni wanted to “quit one of the formats” in order to concentrate on remaining two formats.
“MS is a very practical man. Today, he called up just after the Test match in Melbourne and told me that he wanted to retire from Test cricket. I asked him “what happened are you injured or what?” He just calmly told me “No, I just want to quit Test cricket for good”. He is an Indian captain and a distinguished cricketer. It’s his personal choice and I needed to respect that,” Patel said.
“I asked him ‘Is it your final decision’ and he told me ‘Please wait a bit as I want to inform the boys about my decision and then you can make an official announcement.’ He duly called up and told me that I have informed the boys and you can go ahead. In the meanwhile, I also contacted chairman of selectors Sandeep (Patil) and Shivlal Yadav. Both felt that we should respect Dhoni’s decision,” the BCCI secretary said revealing the turn of events that unfolded early today.
“I was a bit taken aback by the suddenness of his statement. But we had spoken about it before the Test also. Now what transpired between us is an internal matter but I can tell you that it wasn’t a decision taken in haste. It was done after due deliberations,” Patel added.
Strangely, Dhoni addressed the media after the draw but chose not to divulge his decision to retire immediately with the 'news' only coming through the Indian cricket board's official announcement.
"One of India's greatest Test captains under whose leadership India became the No. 1 team in the Test Rankings MS Dhoni, has decided to retire from Test Cricket citing the strain of playing all formats of cricket," said BCCI. "MS Dhoni has chosen to retire from Test cricket with immediate effect in order to concentrate on ODI and T20 formats."
As captain, Dhoni had the best numbers ever by an Indian; 27 wins out of 60 as leader but no farewell speech in what nobody realised was his farewell Test was actually a poor move by someone widely regarded as one of the game's shrewdest and calm captains.
Rustic, yet brutal; simple yet stunningly effective, Dhoni was perhaps, the most technically ill-suited for Test cricket given his inability to satisfy the purists but for all that, the 33 year old Dhoni transformed Indian cricket and led India to the No.1 spot in Test cricket besides two World Cups in T20s and ODIs.
Under Dhoni, India were the top-ranked Test side for 18 months before the landslide began which soon turned into a deluge.
Hammered 8-0 in twin Test series in England and Australia, Dhoni's Test captaincy suffered post the epochal 2011 World Cup triumph as they won just two out of 22 Tests while losing 13.
Read: JSCA secretary urges MS Dhoni to captain the whole series
Questions had been raised about Dhoni's form and role in the longer version especially given Virat Kohli's ascendancy but no-one would have grudged the now-retired skipper if he were to stretch it for another ten Tests to get to the 100-landmark. But Dhoni chose the practical, if not the perfect route. For as a Test cricketer, he wasn't perfect, just practical.
In 2005: Dhoni shot to fame with two brilliant one-day innings, 148 off 123 balls against Pakistan and an unbeaten 183 off 145 against Sri Lanka leading to his inclusion in the Test team the same year.
In 2007: Dhoni was asked to captain India in the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa after senior players Dravid and sachin declined to play. He led his young team to a stunning win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the final. The victory inspired a T20 revolution in India that led to the creation of the glitzy IPL in 2008.
Read: Top facts that you did not know about Mahendra Singh Dhoni
In 2009: Under Dhoni India assumed the number one ranking in Test cricket, a position they held till 2011.
In 2011: Dhoni hit the winning six as India won the 50-over World Cup by defeating Sri Lanka in the final at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. It was India’s second World Cup title after Kapil Dev’s team had achieved the feat in 1983.
In 2014: As India stumbled in overseas Tests, Dhoni’s defensive leadership was slammed by critics and media alike. The toll of being captain, batsman and wicket-keeper in all three formats for the past seven years took its toll and Dhoni quit Test cricket.
