I was really surprised with MS Dhoni's decision to hang his boots up after the third Test against Australia. I believe he could have played for couple of years more considering that he was not doing badly as far as his batting and wicket-keeping is concerned.
Retirement is a personal decision and it is difficult for others to guess the reasons behind why a player chooses to call it a day. Only the player himself can decide whether it is the right time to step down. Dhoni must have felt that it is right time to give up Test cricket and continue playing in the One Day Internationals and Twenty20.
I feel that Dhoni might have decided to retire after yet another series loss abroad which follows string of poor performances away from home in the last few years. The dismal show in England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand could be the reason. And it happened twice Down Under.
However, I would like to believe a captain cannot do anything if he doesn't have a good bowling attack — one which can pick 20 wickets in Tests. When you play abroad, you cannot win matches with average bowling, you need to have bowlers who can take wickets consistently. In Test cricket you have to keep strategising every session. You have to bowl minimum 90 overs a day. Even if you have a strong batting line-up, who can pile up 450 plus, it doesn't matter till you have good bowlers.
In ODIs and T20s, Dhoni was successful because he had a good team and good bowlers who could bowl effectively their quota of 10 overs or four in T20.
When we (as national selectors) chose Dhoni as the captain of the World T20 team in 2007, the things that we liked about him was his positive attitude and body language. Sachin (Tendulkar) and Rahul (Dravid) had told us about Dhoni's cricketing intelligence and how good a thinker of the game he is. These things strengthened our belief that he should be handed over the captaincy.
Too much of cricket could have also be a reason behind Dhoni's decision. If you play so much cricket, it is difficult to perform consistently day in and day out in all formats of the game, to keep wickets, to bat. It takes a toll. He has not missed many matches hence, this could be a reason.
As far as his batting and wicket-keeping is concerned, he is excellent. He could adapt to different conditions quickly and was a very smart cricketer who could get the best out of himself in any situation.
What I like about Dhoni is that he doesn't carry any baggages. I don't think the Test retirement will affect him or the team in the ODIs or T20s. He is good enough to look ahead and keep playing in the shorter formats without letting any decision affect him or the team.
Talking about Dhoni's successor, I believe Virat Kohli is the right person. He has been groomed well to take over as the captain. He is the best batsman in the team and has a positive attitude.
—As told to Taus Rizvi
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