It seems that an epic era came to its end on Wednesday, with the official retirement of Mahindra Singh Dhoni from both short cricket formats. Prior to his retirement, Dhoni was leading the team in the T20 internationals and ODI’s. On December 30th, 2016, in Australia, he had officially retired from the Tests. Everybody was caught by surprise then when Dhoni announced his retirements from Test Cricket. Now, it’s even more surprising to hear about his plans of not heading the Indian team in formats that had limited overs.
It’s not completely over, says Dhoni
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He did mention that he would be won’t be leading the team in the upcoming T201 series and One Day matches that are scheduled to be played against England starting January 15th, 2017 in Pune. On Friday, the squad for this particular series will be picked by the senior national selectors. As a skipper on the selection table, it will be the last time that Dhoni would be present during the process.
His achievements are not hidden
We all know that MS Dhoni is a man who has achieved a lot and does not believe in the word quit. He has won literally every silverware that you can think of internationally. This year, he was keen to lead for Indian cricket team during the ICC Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held in June in the UK.
Presently holds the 3rd position for the highest number of ODI’s
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Dhoni himself informed the BCCI about his decision of stepping down from his captaincy position from games that were of limited format. MS Dhoni stands in the 3rd position after Stephen Fleming and Ricky Pointing when it comes to being a skipper in the ODIs.
Known to be the best
Over his entire career, Dhoni has always been one of the best finishers in the game of cricket. We have seen his performance in around 73 T20 internationals. He also holds the world record for leading the Indian Cricket Team in 72 T20 matches.
A note of appreciation from the CEO of BCCI
BCCI’s Chief Executive Officer, Rahul Johri appreciated the contribution that MS Dhoni has made as a captain for the Indian Cricket team. In his statement, he thanked him for leading the team in different game formats. He also stated that under his leadership, Dhoni took the Indian Team to a new height and that his achievements will always be remembered.
An Indian Captain that was always successful
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When it comes to being known as a successful captain, Dhoni’s name will always be on the top of the list. In 2014 everybody was stunned when Dhoni announced that he wanted to quit the test cricket. This announcement was made at the time when the team was in the midst of the Australian Tour. The reins of the team were then handed over to Virat Kohli.
So who will be the successor of the Indian Cricket Team Captain?
Well, considering that now M S Dhoni is stepping down, the next heir for the captaincy position is Virat Kohli who is presently the Test captain. Presently he was also acknowledged as the captain for the 2016 ICC ODI Team of the Year. Judging by his performance, the bets are that the honor should be given to Kohli who truly deserves it.
The official announcement from the BCCI is yet to come in about who will be the successor of the Indian Cricket team; until then, all we can do is wait and watch.
We would like to wish Dhoni all the best and tell him that he would be missed as a captain.