India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday surprised the cricket world with his sudden announcement of immediate retirement from Test cricket, making way for Virat Kohli to don the mantle of captaincy.
Announcement of Dhoni's retirement after the wicketkeeper-batsman had played in 90 Test matches, 60 of them as captain, was made immediately after India lost the current Test series to Australia following a drawn third Test here.
"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 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," 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 the 6th of January 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.
Dhoni's captaincy record since June 2011
OpponentsMatchesWinsLostDraw
England5131
Australia3030
South Africa2011
New Zealand2011
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.
Dhoni's retirement prompted widespread reactions on social media, with tributes flooding in from all corners of the globe, including from legendary Sachin Tendulkar and inspirational Australian skipper Ricky Ponting.
Tendulkar congratulated Dhoni on a wonderful career and also urged him to help India defend the World Cup title.
"well done on a wonderful career in test cricket @msdhoni. Always enjoyed playing together. Next target 2015 WC my friend!!," Tendulkar tweeted.
Reacting to Dhoni's retirement from Test cricket, former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting praised Dhoni for his competitiveness and also said Indian cricket owed a lot to him.
"A great competitor, and someone who I think Indian cricket owes a lot to," former Australian captain Ponting wrote on Twitter.
Indian legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi was taken by surprise following Dhoni's decision to quit in the middle of the ongoing Test series.
"MSDhoni's retirement in midst of test series leaves lot of us perplexed! But that's his prerogative.I'd like 2 wish MSD Happy Retirement!!," Bedi wrote on Twitter.
Dhoni (eight catches, one stumping) last act of note in the Test arena saw him become the first Indian wicketkeeper to effect nine dismissals in a Test match in Melbourne.
Overall, he became the third wicketkeeper to achieve the feat against Australia — the first two being David Murray (West Indies) at Melbourne in December 1981 and Ridley Jacobs (also of the West Indies) at Melbourne in December 2000.
Dhoni also became the first Indian batsman to complete 10,000 runs or more as captain in international cricket, joining Ricky Ponting (15,440), Graeme Smith (14,878), Stephen Fleming (11,561) and Allan Border (11,062).
