Dhoni Walks Away From Captaincy

Dhoni chose the route of walking away from India’s one day internationals and Twenty20 captaincy, as quietly as he had done when he announced his decision to retire from Test ...

- Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

The winds have been blowing strong this winter, gathering speed and gust as the season hit its peak. In the midst of that cold, sometimes brutally freezing weather, it was hard to escape certain facts, solidified even more over the past couple of Indian cricket seasons. Eventually even the usually unflappable Mahendra Singh Dhoni could no longer deny: Virat Kohli’s time had come.

Although the call was becoming increasingly incessant for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to make way for Virat Kohli to take over India’s captain across all formats over the past couple of cricket seasons, one did not expect Dhoni to make such a declaration just days before the commencement of the home series against England. Just days into new year, while the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) were still reeling from the irascible wrath and judgement of the Supreme Court, Mahendra Singh Dhoni chose the route of walking away from India’s one day internationals and Twenty20 captaincy, as quietly and as unceremoniously as he had done when he announced through the BCCI his decision to retire from Test cricket altogether in December, 2016. Conveying his decision during the Ranji Trophy match for Jharkhand to the Indian chairman of selectors, M.S.K. Prasad, Dhoni apparently had just a one line email for the BCCI, stating explicitly that he was willing to step down as captain of India’s one day internationals and Twenty20 and willing to mentor the team.