Mumbai: After leading for over nine years, MS Dhoni, who retired from Test cricket in 2014, stepped down as India’s ODI, T20 captaincy last week. While the cricket fraternity is paying rich tributes to Dhoni, there are reports indicating that he was forced to resign from India’s limited-overs captaincy.
It was learnt that the process to ask Virat Kohli to take over India’s limited-over captaincy started in September 2016. MSK Prasad, chief selector of India, was in Nagpur during the Ranji Trophy semifinal clash between Jharkhad and Gujarat and he spoke to MS Dhoni.
While Prasad said it was Dhoni, who was in Nagpur as a mentor for his state team, approached him with the decision to relinquish ODI and T20 captaincy after leading the side for over nine years, the recent reports speculate otherwise.
Prasad, while lauding Dhoni, had said: “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,” Prasad had told PTI.
A leading daily had also quoted Cricket Association of Bihar’s former secretary Aditya Verma saying that Dhoni resigned following pressure from BCCI joint secretary Amitabh Choudhary. It was indicated that he was not too happy with Jharkhand losing the semifinal and Dhoni refusing to play the match.
