Ravi Shastri recalls how MS Dhoni's Test retirement 'came as a surprise'

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri recalled the moment MS Dhoni announced his decision to retire from Test cricket and said that it came as a surprise for everyone. Talking about the incident while speaking to Star Sports, Ravi Shastri, who was then India's Team Manager during their tour to Australia in 2014 revealed how MS Dhoni had come to him after the draw and told him he wanted to address the team at the dressing room.

What happened next took everyone by surprise, describing the environment in the dressing room Ravi Shastri said "Well, it came as a surprise. He came to me and said 'I want to say something to the boys'. I said 'sure'. I thought he was going to say something about the draw. He comes out and said to everyone that he was retiring from the longest format of the game. I just saw the faces around the dressing room. Most of the boys were in a state of shock when MS made the announcement. But that's MS for you."  

Ravi Shastri further went on to add that the decision might have come as Dhoni sure did want to prolong his white-ball career and that it would have been difficult for the body to manage all the workload. Shastri said about Dhoni, "He was waiting for an opportune time to make the announcement. He knew how much his body could take and he wanted to prolong his white-ball career. When your body tells you it's enough, it's enough, there are no second thoughts about that."

MS Dhoni knew who was the next leader in-line

Ravi Shastri also said that both he as well as MS Dhoni were aware that Virat Kohli will be taking over the reins once MS Dhoni decided to step away from the game "I knew that the moment MS Dhoni finishes, Virat Kohli is the guy to lead the side. He (MS Dhoni) knew who was the next leader in line," Ravi Shastri said.

Ravi Shastri took over as India's head coach in 2017 and successfully completed a 4-year tenure in 2021 at the end of the T20 World Cup and paved way for Rahul Dravid to take over as the head coach.

Image: PTI/ AP