Dhoni Speaks: MSD opens up about his decision to relinquish captaincy

Nine days after Mahendra Singh Dhoni informed the BCCI that he did not want to continue as India’s limited-overs captain, he opened up to the media here on Friday on the reasons behind his decision.

Having retired from Tests at the end of 2014 in Australia and passed on the reins to Virat Kohli, Dhoni continued to captain in limited overs for two years. It was a time when India followed the split captaincy, something that the 35-year-old from Jharkhand believed does not work in India.

During the time when India were winning Test series under Kohli, the ODI team under Dhoni lost 1-4 in Australia, won 3-0 in Zimbabwe and scraped past New Zealand at home 3-2. They also exited in the semifinals of ICC World T20 last year.

“I believe split captaincy is something that doesn’t really work in our scenario, and it is not something I have a view upon right now,” Dhoni said two days prior to the first ODI that he will play under Kohli.

“One player leading the team in all the formats is something that is very crucial.”

The relief of relinquishing captaincy may not have been visible on his face but he spoke for close to 20 minutes, giving attention to every word of the question before answering in depth.

 “Virat took over the Test captainship and I wanted him to have some time over there and get into the full captainship role, so he was always ready. Limited-overs format is not a big challenge. That’s why I finally decided to move on and give Virat the full captainship.”

Dhoni felt the time was right to give Kohli the charge in all formats. “We have been very close, right from the start,” Dhoni said of Kohli.

“In Indian cricket, we’ve seen a lot of cricketers, who having got to play five games, are worried about the two they didn’t get. The best part about Virat is right from when he got a chance to play, he always wanted to improve in whatever chances he got. He wanted to do well in those games. And that is the reason why he is so successful. He has improvised his cricket and his thinking. With more responsibility on him, he’ll keep getting better.”

Team will rewrite history

Dhoni is confident the 28-year-old Kohli will take Indian cricket to even greater heights. “If it is about the numbers, I think Virat and this team will win more games than me in all the formats. The whole pool of players seem to be ones who’ll play cricket in the right spirit. I feel this will be the most successful Indian cricket team ever, on a consistent basis.

“I firmly believe this will be the team that will rewrite history. I think they will do something very special in the coming years.”

“If I would’ve stayed (as captain) till Champions Trophy, nothing much changes. A lot of people asked why I quit mid-series in Australia, but you have to look at the bigger picture, what is more beneficial. One more game into my numbers doesn’t make a lot of difference. But, since Saha was there, he gets a chance to play one more game in Australia. And if everything goes well, he will be the person to be going on foreign tours, so he has that exposure. And Virat also has the same kind of exposure.”

Sacrifices as leader

Dhoni also reflected on the sacrifices he had to make as a captain for the team’s needs. “As captain, I felt it was difficult for newcomers to come and bat at Nos. 6 or 7. I thought I should be the person who takes that added responsibility of playing lower down the order so that the youngsters come in and get a chance to express themselves. I didn’t get a lot of chance to bat because of that,” he added.

“I would’ve preferred batting at 4, playing more overs. It is the same as of now, if I am supposed to bat at 4,5,6,7 whatever the demand is for the team’s betterment, I am ready to bat there.”

And then MS also said...

The satisfying part
I don’t regret anything in life because what has happened has happened. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. The only good thing is over the period once the seniors left us and the juniors came into the side, from that point till now it is the same juniors who have started to do well. We invested in them and over the period they started proving they are the ones who will take the legacy forward when it comes to Indian cricket, so that was a very satisfying thing to see.

Get best out of player
The main job of the captain is to make sure that whatever is the potential of the player, he is performing to a 100 per cent. Usually, if you can achieve between 90 to 110 per cent, you’ve done well. You should know ways as to how to handle each and every individual. There are different ways to handle everyone – for some it is a kind word, for some it is a harsh word. For some it may be just expression with your eyes. So you have to figure out what really works the best, at times it maybe the false confidence you give the guy because that is what is really needed at that point of time. You have to be clever enough to evaluate as to this is what is needed at that point of time. Ultimately the leader’s job is to get the best out of the team.

Pressing issue
Asked which part of his captaincy he will not miss, Dhoni said with a chuckle: “The press conferences. I always felt there were too many press conferences. Game plans are not done in press conferences. I always felt the captain had too many exposures. Especially when we went abroad, it became difficult to convince the local bodies that it was not really needed, that it was a waste of time and talent. But it was like ‘okay, it is written in the MoU, so the captain needs to do it.’ It was actually quite foolish.”