It was a day of surprises at the MCG before the end of the year 2014 and the beginning of the new one. Firstly, the declaration of their second innings by Australia captain Steve Smith in the morning, and then in the evening, the surprise retirement of Indian captain MS Dhoni from Test cricket. I am surprised by this announcement at the middle of this series. Three Tests were over and it was a question of one more.
He did come into the series with a injury and none of us have any idea whether that had become worse. Whatever may have happened, I feel the decision to give up captaincy was a right one. Although I feel his decision not to play Test cricket was incorrect. I have been in this situation before and I feel it would have allowed MSD to play freely and do justice to his ability as a Test batsman. We would have seen a rejuvenated MSD in Tests.
Captaincy never gets easier with time and MSD had been in this job for a long time. Captaining day in and day out in all formats is so tough and in addition to that wicket-keeping and batting would have made life extremely difficult for him. It deserves special mention that he managed to do that for such a long time.
In the recent past, there had been lot of criticism of MSD’s captaincy in the longer format from all quarters of the cricketing world, and unknowingly it has a toll on any one, however strong he may be. If you analyse MSD’s tenure as captain, to me it could be divided in two parts, one before 2011 and the one after 2011, and he must agree that the one after 2011 has been a nightmare.
Now where does it leave MSD from here? He will continue to play and lead India in the shorter format in the World Cup. He is the greatest in one-day format and probably one of the best, because no captain in world cricket has three world titles under the belt. The entire country must agree that he has set some high standards in one-day captaincy.
MSD could have achieved a lot more in Test cricket away from home but then that is life, there is one cupboard empty all the time. On the whole the entire nation will salute the champion from Jharkand and say: “You have taken Indian cricket to great heights.”
Sourav Ganguly was Dhoni’s first captain (ODIs)