India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, on Tuesday retired from test cricket, the India cricket board said on Tuesday.
BCCI in its release said, "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. M S Dhoni has chosen to retire from Test Cricket with immediate effect in order to concentrate on ODI and T20 formats."
The board further said, "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."
"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 BCCI stated.
The 33-year-old, 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.
The team had been whitewashed 0-4 in England (2011) and Australia (2011-12) under his leadership. 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 and ODIs.
He was in the eye of storm recently when it was insinuated that his name was there in the Mudgal Commission report on the IPL 6 spot-fixing scandal.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision to retire from Test cricket with immediate effect might have stunned a lot of people but BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel said that "it wasn't taken in haste" and came after a lot of "soul searching and deliberations".
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 told PTI.
"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 on Tuesday.
"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. Was Dhoni a touch emotional when he intimated about the decision, Patel said,"I didn't feel that. But someone, who was present in the dressing room told me that he (Dhoni) was a bit emotional while announcing his decision. He has given fantastic service to Indian cricket and the BCCI has always believed that retirement is any player's personal choice." Patel said that Dhoni is very much India's captain in the other two formats.
"You have to understand that Dhoni knows the rigours that his body has taken in Test cricket more than anyone else. But there isn't a single murmur about his leadership in the shorter formats. There is no question of any change in that regard," said Patel.
With PTI inputs
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}