December 30 2014: Mahendra Singh Dhoni has retired from Test cricket with immediate effect. The decision comes after India drew the third Test in Melbourne on Tuesday. Out of the 90 Tests he played, Dhoni led India in 60 matches. Dhoni finished with most Test wins as India captain (27), beating the previous best of 21 wins held by Sourav Ganguly. (MS Dhoni, Ashwin ensure MCG draw).
A BCCI statement said: “One of India's greatest Test captains under whose leadership India became the No.1 team in the Test rankings Dhoni, has decided to retire from Test cricket citing the strain of playing all formats of cricket. Dhoni has chosen to retire from Tests with immediate effect in order to concentrate on ODIs and T20 formats. (Dhoni knew Kohli was ready for Test captaincy: Sunil Gavaskar)
"BCCI, while respecting the decision of Dhoni to retire from Test cricket, wishes to thank him for his enormous contribution to Tests and the laurels that he has brought to India."
Virat Kohli will captain India in the fourth and final Test against Australia in Sydney from January 6. India have already lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy having lost the first two Tests in Adelaide and Brisbane. Kohli had led in the first Test when Dhoni preferred to rest his injured right hand.
Dhoni bowed out of Test cricket in style. In his final series in Australia, Dhoni became the first Indian wicketkeeper to effect nine dismissals in a Test match in Melbourne.
Overall, he became the third wicketkeeper to achieve the feat versus Australia, the first two being David Murray (West Indies) at Melbourne in December 1981 and Ridley Jacobs (West Indies) at Melbourne in December 2000.
With the bat, MS Dhoni also became the first Indian batsman to complete 10,000 runs or more as captain in international cricket, joining Ricky Ponting (15440), Graeme Smith (14878), Stephen Fleming (11561) and Allan Border (11062).
60 The number of Tests in which MS Dhoni captained India, the highest among all Indians, and sixth among all captains. It's also easily the highest for a wicketkeeper - the next best is Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim, with 19 matches as captain.
294 Test dismissals for Dhoni, the fifth highest among all wicketkeepers, and the best for an Indian by far: the next best is Syed Kirmani's 198 dismissals in 88 matches.
27 The number of Tests India won with Dhoni as captain - the next highest for India is Sourav Ganguly with 21. Only six captains won more Tests than Dhoni did.
21 The number of home Tests India won under Dhoni, which puts him fourth in the all-time list - only Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh captained in more home wins. The next best for India is Mohammad Azharuddin with 13 wins. However, in overseas Tests India won only six out of 30 under Dhoni, and lost 15. In contrast, India won 11 out of 28 overseas Tests under Ganguly, and five out of 17 under Rahul Dravid. Since the 2011 World Cup, India lost 13 out of 18 overseas Tests under Dhoni, winning only one and drawing four.
9 Number of dismissals Dhoni affected in his last Test (eight catches, one stumping), which is the highest for an Indian wicketkeeper. There are five instances of eight dismissals by an Indian wicketkeeper, of which Dhoni was the protagonist three times. In Test history, there are only four instances of wicketkeepers affecting more than nine dismissals in a Test.
38 The number of stumpings by Dhoni, which is the joint third highest in Test history, along with Kirmani. Only Godfrey Evans (46) and Bert Oldfield (52) have more stumpings.
224 Dhoni's score against Australia in Chennai last year, the third best ever by a wicketkeeper in Tests. Only Andy Flower (232* against India in 2000) and Kumar Sangakkara (230 versus Pakistan in 2002) have made bigger scores. Before Dhoni's double-century, the highest by a wicketkeeper for India was Budhi Kunderan's 192 against England in 1964.
4876 Runs that Dhoni scored in Tests, which is the third best for a wicketkeeper, after Adam Gilchrist (5570) and Mark Boucher (5515). Among Indian wicketkeepers it's easily the best, well clear of Kirmani's 2759 and Farrokh Engineer's 2611. He averaged 38.09, the best among Indian wicketkeepers who played more than three Tests, while his six Test hundreds is three times the next best for India.
47.21 Dhoni's batting average in Tests in Asia. In 72 innings he scored six hundreds and 18 fifties. He played exactly 72 innings outside Asia as well, but didn't manage a single hundred, and averaged 29.79. His highest outside Asia was 92, at The Oval in 2007.
3454 Runs scored by Dhoni as Test captain, which is the highest among Indian captains. Sunil Gavaskar is next, with 3449 runs in 47 Tests as captain, while Azharuddin made 2856 runs in 47 matches. Dhoni averaged 40.63 as captain; when not captain, his average dropped to 33.06.
2871 The Test runs Dhoni scored from the No. 7 position, the highest for India at that slot; Kapil Dev is next with an aggregate of 2861. No other Indian batsman has scored more than 800 runs from that position.
15 The number of overseas Tests India lost under Dhoni. Only Stephen Fleming (16 losses from 42 Tests) and Brian Lara (16 losses from 20 Tests) have lost more overseas games as captain.
78 Number of sixes Dhoni hit in Tests. Among Indians only Virender Sehwag, with 90 sixes, has more.
22 The number of century partnerships that Dhoni was involved in. His most prolific partnerships came with VVS Laxman: in 27 stands they aggregated 1361 runs, at an average of 56.70 runs per completed partnership, with three century stands. Laxman was the only partner with whom Dhoni put together more than 1000 runs. Of the four double-century partnerships he was involved in, two were with Laxman.
2 Number of Man-of-the-Match awards Dhoni won in Tests. Both were against Australia - in Mohali in 2008, and in Chennai in 2013.
A BCCI statement said: “One of India's greatest Test captains under whose leadership India became the No.1 team in the Test rankings Dhoni, has decided to retire from Test cricket citing the strain of playing all formats of cricket. Dhoni has chosen to retire from Tests with immediate effect in order to concentrate on ODIs and T20 formats. (Dhoni knew Kohli was ready for Test captaincy: Sunil Gavaskar)
"BCCI, while respecting the decision of Dhoni to retire from Test cricket, wishes to thank him for his enormous contribution to Tests and the laurels that he has brought to India."
Virat Kohli will captain India in the fourth and final Test against Australia in Sydney from January 6. India have already lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy having lost the first two Tests in Adelaide and Brisbane. Kohli had led in the first Test when Dhoni preferred to rest his injured right hand.
Dhoni bowed out of Test cricket in style. In his final series in Australia, Dhoni became the first Indian wicketkeeper to effect nine dismissals in a Test match in Melbourne.
Overall, he became the third wicketkeeper to achieve the feat versus Australia, the first two being David Murray (West Indies) at Melbourne in December 1981 and Ridley Jacobs (West Indies) at Melbourne in December 2000.
With the bat, MS Dhoni also became the first Indian batsman to complete 10,000 runs or more as captain in international cricket, joining Ricky Ponting (15440), Graeme Smith (14878), Stephen Fleming (11561) and Allan Border (11062).
60 The number of Tests in which MS Dhoni captained India, the highest among all Indians, and sixth among all captains. It's also easily the highest for a wicketkeeper - the next best is Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim, with 19 matches as captain.
294 Test dismissals for Dhoni, the fifth highest among all wicketkeepers, and the best for an Indian by far: the next best is Syed Kirmani's 198 dismissals in 88 matches.
27 The number of Tests India won with Dhoni as captain - the next highest for India is Sourav Ganguly with 21. Only six captains won more Tests than Dhoni did.
21 The number of home Tests India won under Dhoni, which puts him fourth in the all-time list - only Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh captained in more home wins. The next best for India is Mohammad Azharuddin with 13 wins. However, in overseas Tests India won only six out of 30 under Dhoni, and lost 15. In contrast, India won 11 out of 28 overseas Tests under Ganguly, and five out of 17 under Rahul Dravid. Since the 2011 World Cup, India lost 13 out of 18 overseas Tests under Dhoni, winning only one and drawing four.
9 Number of dismissals Dhoni affected in his last Test (eight catches, one stumping), which is the highest for an Indian wicketkeeper. There are five instances of eight dismissals by an Indian wicketkeeper, of which Dhoni was the protagonist three times. In Test history, there are only four instances of wicketkeepers affecting more than nine dismissals in a Test.
38 The number of stumpings by Dhoni, which is the joint third highest in Test history, along with Kirmani. Only Godfrey Evans (46) and Bert Oldfield (52) have more stumpings.
224 Dhoni's score against Australia in Chennai last year, the third best ever by a wicketkeeper in Tests. Only Andy Flower (232* against India in 2000) and Kumar Sangakkara (230 versus Pakistan in 2002) have made bigger scores. Before Dhoni's double-century, the highest by a wicketkeeper for India was Budhi Kunderan's 192 against England in 1964.
4876 Runs that Dhoni scored in Tests, which is the third best for a wicketkeeper, after Adam Gilchrist (5570) and Mark Boucher (5515). Among Indian wicketkeepers it's easily the best, well clear of Kirmani's 2759 and Farrokh Engineer's 2611. He averaged 38.09, the best among Indian wicketkeepers who played more than three Tests, while his six Test hundreds is three times the next best for India.
47.21 Dhoni's batting average in Tests in Asia. In 72 innings he scored six hundreds and 18 fifties. He played exactly 72 innings outside Asia as well, but didn't manage a single hundred, and averaged 29.79. His highest outside Asia was 92, at The Oval in 2007.
3454 Runs scored by Dhoni as Test captain, which is the highest among Indian captains. Sunil Gavaskar is next, with 3449 runs in 47 Tests as captain, while Azharuddin made 2856 runs in 47 matches. Dhoni averaged 40.63 as captain; when not captain, his average dropped to 33.06.
2871 The Test runs Dhoni scored from the No. 7 position, the highest for India at that slot; Kapil Dev is next with an aggregate of 2861. No other Indian batsman has scored more than 800 runs from that position.
15 The number of overseas Tests India lost under Dhoni. Only Stephen Fleming (16 losses from 42 Tests) and Brian Lara (16 losses from 20 Tests) have lost more overseas games as captain.
78 Number of sixes Dhoni hit in Tests. Among Indians only Virender Sehwag, with 90 sixes, has more.
22 The number of century partnerships that Dhoni was involved in. His most prolific partnerships came with VVS Laxman: in 27 stands they aggregated 1361 runs, at an average of 56.70 runs per completed partnership, with three century stands. Laxman was the only partner with whom Dhoni put together more than 1000 runs. Of the four double-century partnerships he was involved in, two were with Laxman.
2 Number of Man-of-the-Match awards Dhoni won in Tests. Both were against Australia - in Mohali in 2008, and in Chennai in 2013.
