MS Dhoni was not under any pressure to step down from captaincy

What’s the Story?

MS Dhoni’s decision to step down from captaincy in ODIs and T20Is certainly came as a shock to both players and supporters alike. Now it has emerged that despite his lacklustre performances with the bat there was no pressure on him from the selectors to step down and his decision was completely out of his own volition.

While MS Dhoni’s performances with the bat haven’t been as good as they have been in the past as evident from the fact that he hasn’t scored a century in an ODI since October 2013 and his career average, which has been in excess of 50 has been on the way down.

“Had Mahi taken the decision one year or even six months earlier, I would have been a bit worried. But I salute him for his sense of perfect timing. He knew that Virat is now a proven customer who has done exceptionally well as a leader in Test. So it is a correct decision by Dhoni. It showed that he had the best interest of Indian cricket in his mind,” chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said.

Extra Cover: Who Said What: World reacts to MS Dhoni stepping down from ODI and T20I captaincy

In case you did not know...

After winning everything there is to win in international cricket as a captain, few doubted MS Dhoni’s credentials as a skipper but his recent poor form meant that some questioned whether he was still the right man for the job.

He is India’s most successful captain and led the the team to victory in the World T20 in 2007, the 2011 World Cup in India, and the 2013 Champions Trophy in England. Apart from being the player with most international matches as captain, he is also the only one to have captained in more than 50 matches across all three formats.

MS Dhoni surprised everyone by calling time on his limited-overs captaincy career which encompassed 199 ODIs and 72 T20Is. The selection committee is in Nagpur and the squad for the ODI and T20I series will be announced on Friday (January 6) with Virat Kohli as the front-runner to replace the 35-year-old as captain.

The heart of the matter

During the semi-final of the Ranji Trophy clash between Jharkhand, Dhoni’s home state and Gujarat, which the former lost on day four, he had a conversation with Prasad. This took place during the tea break and it was a long one.

After the decision, MSK Prasad believes that he still has a couple of years left him as a keeper and he is still a valuable asset, although he admitted that Dhoni has nothing left to achieve for him as a captain.

Sources also added that the selectors had a chat with Dhoni but that was only about his plans for the immediate future and had nothing to do with asking him to step down.

What next?

As the three-match ODI and T20I series will be the last limited-overs series before the ICC Champions Trophy in June, India will have to pick Dhoni’s successor wisely and also think about grooming a wicketkeeper as well.

Sportskeeda’s take

No one knows what is good for MS Dhoni than the man himself. And having already said that an ODI captain needs a long time to prepare before a World Cup, perhaps he felt that the time was right to pass on the baton to another player.

The decision certainly looks like one that was well thought out and captaining in a Champions Trophy will certainly give his successor some much-needed experience before doing so in the World Cup so while the decision is sudden, it may prove to be the right call in the end.