MS Dhoni retires from Test Cricket after Series Loss

Indian skipper MS Dhoni, who just lost the Test series in Australia – 6th straight Test Series loss under his captaincy, has announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect. He won’t be playing in the fourth and final Test in Sydney. Dhoni captained India in 60 Tests and won 27 of those. He lost 18, while managing 15 draw matches.

He played 90 Tests and scored 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09 with 6 hundreds and 33 fifties. His top score remains 224. He also took 256 catches and triggered 38 stumping. Although he retired from Test cricket, he will continue to play and lead India in ODIs and T20s where he has proved his mettle beyond doubt by winning the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 World Cup apart from ICC Champions Trophy 2013.

Dhoni’s decision came as a big shocker to everyone, including BCCI, Selectors and Team Manager Ravi Shastri. Even his colleagues were not aware of it. Dhoni made his Test debut on 2nd December 2005 against Sri Lanka. He was appointed Test captain in 2008. It was under his captaincy that India climbed to No. 1 in the ICC Test Rankings in December 2009. But, things changed drastically over the last couple of years and there were calls for his retirement from Tests.

Meanwhile, the BCCI has thanked MS Dhoni for his remarkable contribution and named Virat Kohli as the captain for fourth and final Test in Sydney.