The silent departure of Mahendra Singh Dhoni from the captaincy in the middle of an important series Down Under has caught everyone by surprise. It was during his stewardship India saw fortune changing in Test arena. Captained 60 Tests recording 27 wins surprising Saurav Ganguly’s record of 49 Tests and winning 27 out of them, Dhoni surpassed record of winning on home turf with 21 Tests and losing only three. He was instrumental in elevating India’s status to No 1 Test ranking for 18 months starting 2009. It was under his captaincy India became the first team in more than 40 years to whitewash Australia 4-0 in a Test series under him in 2012-13. It is not that for Dhoni there were no low moments. He lost more Tests (15) abroad than any captains, Ganguly and Azhar follow with 10 losses each. But Ganguly also won 11 Tests abroad. India suffered 0-4 whitewashes by England (2011) and Australia (2011-2012). He was always criticised for bizarre tactics and passive games. He has set an example by quitting at the peak of career and for statistics purposes he has shown if not a win at least a draw is more respectable. India was down 0-2 in the current series in Australia under Virat Kholi’s captaincy from where Dhoni picked up the command for the third game which ended in draw. So his resignation cements the fact that he wanted to leave Test arena on a positive note. Offloading the Test responsibility, he can now concentrate on one-day format where his success rate is high. He has quit at a right time giving place to younger player to carry the mantel which no earlier captain has done. History will judge him as the best Test captain for India and a wonderful cricketer for the game with one of the most coolest temperament.
