A lot of critics believe that it would have been better if MS Dhoni had retired from the longest form of the game after the completion of the ongoing 4-mach test series between India and Australia.
As per the critics, Dhoni did not send the right message out by making this very important call at this point in time.
It’s not that Dhoni is the first cricketer to have done such a thing. Quite a few guys have done it in the past.
Graeme Swann, for example, had quit mid way through the last Ashes series.
But, the difference there was that Swann was not the captain of the England side. Yes, he was one of the senior bowlers, but, not a part of the team management.
Dhoni, however, was the leader of the Indian touring party. And, mind you, this is an Indian team full of youngsters.
Dhoni is perhaps the only man in this side who is over 30. The rest are only in their mid twenties.
So, to leave those young players alone at a time when their morale was down, was that a right move by a wise man like Dhoni?
Let’s try to understand what could have been Dhoni’s point of view. He saw the entire first test match, which was played in Adelaide, from the sidelines or from his hotel room and Virat Kohli, during that game, showed that in test cricket, India perhaps needs somebody like him as leader, somebody who is aggressive and is prepared to take the fight to the opposition.
Dhoni although returned thereafter and captained in Brisbane and Melbourne, but, it’s possible that during those two games, he would have felt that he was taking this young Indian side nowhere under his captaincy and it’s time for him to pass over the job to Virat.