Mahendra Singh Dhoni has
announced his retirement from test cricket after India managed to draw the
third Test at the MCG today. He has said that the "strain of playing all
formats of the game" has taken its toll on him has forced him to take such
decision. Virat kohli will lead the Indian team at SCG in the fourth and final
fixture of the tournament in Australia.
Dhoni didn't announce his
decision either during the post-match presentation ceremony or in the press briefing
after the game concluded. His decision came in from of a BCCI Tweet, which
said, "MS Dhoni has chosen to retire from Test Cricket with immediate
effect, Virat (Kohli) will be the captain for the 4th and Final Test against
Australia."
Wriddhiman Saha will take Dhoni's
place in the fourth match of the series at Sydney.
BCCI has issued a statement that
says MS will now concentrate on ODIs and T20s. This to many cricket pundits has
come as surprise as most of the senior cricketers let the shorter formats of
the game to carry their careers in the Test cricket.
"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 statement said.
Dhoni's Test match record lately
has not been that good, though. India has been whitewashed in Australia and in
England in 2011-2012. The team has also been defeated by South Africa and by a
much weaker opposition New Zealand.
Dhoni has played 90 test matches
for India and has scored 4876 runs at an average of 38; he has scored 6
centuries and 33 half centuries. He made his test debut in 2005 against Sir
Lanka.
He took the captaincy from Rahul
Dravid in 2007 and has led the country in 60 fixtures ever since. In those 60
matches India has won 27 lost 18 and 15 have been draws.
It was under his captaincy that
India won the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup.
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