In 2012, during the one-day triangular series in Australia, Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced, out of the blue, that he planned to retire from one of the formats of the game. Dhoni had said then that since he wanted to be fully prepared to defend India’s crown at the 2015 World Cup, playing Test, ODI and T20 cricket was not going to be feasible.
Everyone read that bit of information as an advance notice of his impending retirement from Test matches. Since Twenty20 is Dhoni’s bread and butter and ODIs a format his excels in, the five-day game was always going to be crossed out first. And that day arrived yesterday after India held on for a draw in the Melbourne Test to surrender the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia.
The timing of the announcement, however, is a bit curious. Had Dhoni retired last year, for example, it would have made a lot more sense as India were faltering in away Tests just as much and it could have given a new captain enough time to get on with the job.
It can’t be a coincidence that India have already found a capable leader in Virat Kohli who has done a much better job in the limited chances he has been given, winning over many fans with his aggressive approach. With Virat taking on the leadership role, and proving himself as well, Dhoni suddenly doesn’t look indispensable anymore and he must have got that feeling as well.
The wicketkeeper-batsman has had a poor 2014 in Test cricket and was also out of action for a long time due to a wrist injury.
In nine Tests this year, his average is 33 with no centuries, while his keeping has been below-par. He was never a fluent gloveman and the strain of years on the road is beginning to show. So the decision doesn’t seem as shocking. It is the correct one and allows India to give Virat a free reign as a fearless leader while letting Dhoni do his bit during the 50-over extravaganza Down Under in February.
Even in his Test retirement, Dhoni has done things his way and not followed any norms. He felt it was a right time to let Virat take over, in the middle of an away series, and that was it. It mirrored his Test career, where he did not let tradition dictate terms and even though success away from India began to dwindle over the past three years, he insisted on doing things his way.
When he took over the captaincy from Anil Kumble in 2008, he inherited a side that had Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Zaheer Khan at the top of their game.
India rose to the No.1 ranking and stayed there for a year and a half, thanks largely to an impeccable record at home and creditable drawn series in South Africa and Sri Lanka, plus wins in West Indies and New Zealand.
Things began to go downhill from the 2011 tour of England where an ageing and unfit team lost 4-0. More disaster was in store in 2012 in Australia as India were whitewashed again with Dhoni’s defensive captaincy coming in for criticism.
Even though India’s performance away from hasn’t improved, their record at home is still excellent and Dhoni must be credited for staying true to his beliefs and staying composed through it all.
After all, he is India’s most successful Test captain with 27 wins. And if there is one legacy Dhoni has left behind in Test matches, it’s that of staying unflustered in the face of adversity.
