Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday retired from Test cricket with immediate effect following the drawn third Test against Australia in Melbourne. Virat Kohli will take over as captain of the Indian team for the fourth and final Test of the series, which India have already lost, in Sydney.
“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,” the BCCI said in a statement. “MS Dhoni has chosen to retire from Test Cricket with immediate effect in order to concentrate on ODI and T20 formats. BCCI while respecting the decision of MS Dhoni to retire from Test Cricket, wishes to thank him for his enormous contribution to Test Cricket and the laurels that he has brought to India,” it added.
India, trailing 0-2 in the four-match series after Tuesday’s draw, would be led by the 26-year-old Kohli in the fourth and final match in Sydney. Kohli has been India’s standout performer with the bat in the ongoing series, having scored three hundreds so far. “Virat Kohli will be the captain of the Indian Team for the Fourth and Final Test against Australia to be played in Sydney from January 6, 2015,” the BCCI stated.
The 33-year-old Dhoni, however, did not speak about his retirement at the post-match Press conference or at the presentation ceremony. The announcement was made through a BCCI Press release. The BCCI statement 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 decision comes as a huge surprise. Though it is not sudden. I was expecting him to step down from captaincy after the Sydney match but did not think he will retire as a player. I still think that he had two or three more years of cricket left in him,” Gavaskar told NDTV.
The retired batting great, Sachin Tendulkar, also a long-time teammate, encouraged Dhoni to retain the World Cup, scheduled to be held next year in Australia and New Zealand. “Well done on a wonderful career in test cricket @msdhoni. Always enjoyed playing together. Next target 2015 WC my friend!!,” Tendulkar wrote on his Twitter handle. Dhoni, who led India to an unprecedented two World Cup titles (2007 Twenty20 World Championships and the 2011 ODI World Cup), had been drawing flak for India’s poor run in overseas Tests. India have won just six away Tests out of the 30 that Dhoni has captained. Among the most embarrassing defeats under Dhoni were the 0-4 whitewashes suffered in England (2011) and Australia (2011-12).
Besides the team also suffered defeats in South Africa and New Zealand and had been beaten by England yet again this summer. Yet the wicketkeeper-batsman remains one of the most successful captains ever for India, having led the side to the top of ICC rankings in Tests in 2009. With the team continuing to perform badly overseas, pressure was mounting on Dhoni to quit the job with former players and critics questioning his defensive leadership in the longer format.
The criticism notwithstanding, Dhoni on Tuesday became the top-scoring Indian captain in Tests, making 3,454 runs, going past Sunil Gavaskar (3,449), Mohammad Azharuddin (2,856) and Sourav Ganguly (2,561). In 60 matches as captain, Dhoni had a decent 27 wins, 18 losses and 15 draws to show. In the 90 Tests that he was part of, Dhoni scored 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09 with six hundreds and 33 50s to his credit. Dhoni did not play the first Test in the current series against Australia because of a thumb injury. In his absence, Kohli led the team and won accolades for his attacking approach.
Many former players declared that it was time for Kohli to take over the leadership from Dhoni given that the incumbent had been struggling to present any fresh approach. Dhoni’s rise was nothing short of meteoric and he took over the Test captaincy from Anil Kumble in 2008 in 2013, he became the most successful Indian Test captain when he eclipsed Sourav Ganguly’s record of 21 victories from 49 Tests.His record in away Tests may be dismal, but Dhoni proved to be quite successful on the home turf, leading the side to 21 wins in 30 Tests.