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28 March 2024

#ThankYouDhoni posts flood Twitter as India captain retires

Published
By Agencies

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the proud owner of a fleet of motorbikes,  has lived life in the fast lane ever since he quit his job as a railways ticket inspector to realise his dream of playing for India.

But on Tuesday, the nation's skipper began putting the brakes on a career that has brought him a string of podium finishes as he quit Test cricket after yet another series defeat away from home. 

While Dhoni will still lead India in its defence of the 50-over World Cup which starts next month, he acknowledged in a statement that "the strain of playing all formats" of the game had taken its toll.

The timing of the announcement, with one Test still to go in the series against Australia, might have been something of a shock.

But few people in the game were surprised that the burden of captaining such a cricket-mad country had taken its toll on the wicketkeeping batsman, whose silver-streaked sideburns belie his 33 years.  

"The amount of cricket he was playing probably told on him," said the former batting great Sunil Gavaskar, who nevertheless said India "will miss Dhoni big-time".

Dhoni's love of his country is well-known, once describing his appointment as an honorary lieutenant colonel in the parachute regiment as the proudest day of his life.

"I tell my wife she is only the third most important thing after my country and my parents, in that order," Dhoni said in a recent interview, in which he also spoke of how he would know when his time had come.

"I'll know it is time to finish when I am no longer one of the fastest movers in the team. At that point I will surely know age is winning," he told All Out Cricket magazine.

Dhoni's will to win was never in doubt from the moment he burst onto the scene, soon after quitting his job on India's sluggish railways.

In one of his first international appearances in April 2005, he  smashed 148 off 123 balls against old foes Pakistan in Visakhapatnam.

He made his Test debut later that year in Chennai, the first of 90 Tests in which he scored 4,876 runs at an average of just over 38. His 27 victories in charge of the Test team is a record for an Indian captain.

His swashbuckling style and leadership qualities soon earned him the captaincy of India's T20 team after senior players like Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar opted out of the first ever T20 World Cup in 2007.

When his men clinched the trophy with a thrilling win over arch-rivals Pakistan in the final in Johannesburg, Dhoni acquired instant hero status.

Dhoni replaced Anil Kumble as full-time Test captain in November 2008 and a year later India rose to the number one ranking in Tests, a position they held for two years.

The crowning glory came on April 2, 2011 when India won the World Cup for only the second time, with Dhoni smashing the winning six against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.

But the joy was short-lived. A few months later India began a long nightmarish struggle in Tests in overseas conditions.

The poor record included two 4-0 whitewashes in England and Australia in 2011-2012 and a 3-1 loss in England earlier this year, besides series losses in New Zealand and South Africa.

But while his acumen as a Test skipper may have been called into doubt, he is still widely regarded as one of the astute captains ever in short-form cricket.

As well as captaining India, he has also been the skipper of the Chennai Super Kings in the glitzy, cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) competition.

One of the highest earners in world sport, Dhoni was recently rated by Forbes as India's richest sportsman with an annual brand value of $20 million.

It has enabled him to indulge his love of motorbikes and build a collection which includes high-powered Harley Davisons and Ducatis.

While he may get to spend more time with his bikes in the future, he still has the small business of defending the World Cup which begins in Australia and New Zealand on February 14.

"Well done on a wonderful career in Test cricket," his former team-mate and batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar tweeted on Tuesday. "Next target 2015 WC my friend!!"

Overseas series

India's World Cup-winning captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement Tuesday from Test cricket shortly after his team lost yet another overseas series, this time against Australia.

The announcement comes just weeks before India are due to begin their defence of the 50-over World Cup trophy that Dhoni lifted on home soil in 2011.

Star batsman Virat Kohli, who was the vice-captain under Dhoni, will lead the Indian team in the fourth and final Test against Australia that begins in Sydney on January 6.

Long considered Dhoni's heir apparent, Kohli led the team in the first Test against Australia in Adelaide, scoring back-to-back centuries in his debut as captain and earning plaudits for his aggressive approach despite the cliff-hanging loss by 48 runs.

Cricket fans, former players and anaylsts have been stumped by Indian captain MS Dhoni's sudden announcement to retire from Tests via a statement issued by the BCCI during the middle of a series against Australia.


Nevertheless, most felt it was time for India to look to the future, while paying tribute to India's greatest captain taking to Twitter with #ThankYouDhoni posts.

 


"MS Dhoni has chosen to retire from Test Cricket with immediate effect," the Board of Control for Cricket in India said on its Twitter feed.

"Virat (Kohli) will be the captain for the 4th and Final Test against Australia."

 

The shock announcement came minutes after Dhoni addressed reporters in the wake of India's draw in the third Test against Australia in Melbourne, which conceded the four-match series 2-0 to the hosts.

Dhoni who led India to victory in the inaugural World Twenty20 and Champions Trophy last year has handed over the reign to Virat Kohli.

"Virat Kohli will be the captain of the Indian Team for the fourth and Final Test against Australia to be played in Sydney from the 6th of January 2015," the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced in a statement.

Kohli led India in the first Test in Adelaide deputising for the injured Dhoni.

The decision comes after India drew the third Test against Australia in Melbourne on Tuesday.


The BCCI statement added: “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.


"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 M S 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."

 

The 33-year-old Dhoni, who is also the team's wicket-keeper, took over as Test skipper in 2008 after a succesful spell captaining the one-day and T20 sides.


Under his leadership, India at one stage became the top-ranked Test nation.


But they have struggled when playing away from home.

Before the series in Australia, Dhoni was in charge for a five-match series in England which India lost 3-1.

 


During a Test career spanning 90 matches, Dhoni scored 4,876 run with a highest score of 224 at an average of 38.09.

 

 


A wicket-keeper batsman, he held 256 catches and effected 38 stumpings.

Under his leadership, India became the top-ranked Test nation in 2009, building on their victory in the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007 in Dhoni's first outing as captain.

But India have struggled when playing away from home in recent years. The poor record includes two 4-0 whitewashes in England and Australia in 2011 and a 3-1 loss in England earlier this year.

Dhoni was nevertheless India's most successful Test captain winning 27 of the 60 Tests he led the national side in, with 18 losses and 15 draws.

He scored 4,876 runs during his 90 Test career at an average of 38.09 with six centuries.

But the pressure of being captain, batsman and wicket-keeper in all three formats of the game took its toll amid criticism of his defensive approach in the five-day game.

It was rumoured before the tour of Australia that Dhoni will quit Tests after the series, but his decision to do so even before the Sydney Test would have surprised many.

Dhoni, who also captained the Chennai Super Kings franchise in the Indian Premier League, was rated by Forbes earlier this year as the fifth richest sportsman in the world with an annual brand value of $20 million.

Though not a victory, Dhoni's last Test in charge may have been satisfying on a personal level, having struck an unbeaten 24 to help guide his team to safety on the fifth and final day as Australia's seamers pushed hard for a third successive win.

His stewardship is likely to be hotly debated for months and years to come, having taken India's test team to the world number one ranking for a brief period, but also leading a team that would invariably fail to perform away from home soil.

Timeline

Factbox on former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni who quit Test cricket on Tuesday.

Born: July 7, 1981 in Ranchi.

Nickname: Mahi.

Made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2005, scoring 30 in the rain-hit match in Chennai.

He went on to play 90 Tests for India, amassing 4,876 runs at a 38-plus average, hitting six centuries and 33 fifties. He also took 256 catches and contributed 38 stumpings.

Dhoni's highest Test score of 224 came against Australia in February 2013.

The wicketkeeper-batsman made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in late 2004 and was run out for a first ball duck in the Chittagong match.

Dhoni has played 250 ODIs, scoring 8,192 runs, averaging 52.85 with a strike rate in the vicinity of 90. He has hit nine centuries in this format to go with 56 fifties.

He has also played 50 Twenty20 Internationals, scoring 849 runs, averaging nearly 34 with a 116 strike rate.

Under his captaincy, India won the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007, the 50-over World Cup in 2011 and remained the number one Test team for 18 months from December 2009.

He received Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sports honour, in 2007.

Known for his penchant to seal a victory with a six, Dhoni's trademark 'helicopter' shot has amused fans who have also hailed his unflappable temperament.

India's string of away Test defeats remains a blot on his captaincy records, though, and the emergence of Virat Kohli was seen as an alternative.

He surpassed retired great Sachin Tendulkar as the highest-earning Indian sportsman but remains a fiercely private person.