Mixed response to Dhoni's retirement from test cricket in Jharkhand

MS Dhoni

Ranchi: Mahendra Singh Dhoni's surprise retirement from Test cricket evoked mixed reactions in Jharkhand with some ex-cricketers saying it was a right decision at the wrong time while others supporting his decision.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

"It is a right decision, but coming at the wrong time. He should have resigned when the team was doing well in Test cricket or should have waited, taking the BCCI into confidence, for another series before bowing out with a series win," opined Rakesh Kumar, who played with Dhoni in Ranchi Cricket League.

Daval Sahay, who gave several sportspersons employment opportunities in the Central Coalfields Limited when he was the Director (Personnel), however, said Dhoni should have taken the ultimate decision only after the World Cup. Dhoni was one of the players in the CCL team that played Sishmahal Cricket tournaments and other tourneys.

"His decision is neither right nor having come at the right time or right place," claimed Sahay, whom Dhoni acknowledges as one of the three coaches who mentored his career during Dhoni¿s formative years. "The decision should have come only after the World Cup. Though he has quit only from the Test cricket, it could have its impact in the other form of cricket as well," claimed Sahay.

"The decision must have hurt Dhoni," Sahay said. Commenting on the reports of Indian cricket dressing room affairs, he termed the saga as "unfortunate". "Dressing room is not the ideal place for any Indian Captain," Sahay observed.

Another former coach of Dhoni Chanchal Bhattacharya, however, said, "he has taken a right decision because it is always good to bow out gracefully than being shoved out because of poor form." "Dhoni might have thought to fully focus on the World Cup.

So it is the right decision," Bhattacharya added. Former Bihar Capitan Adil Hussain said it was a surprising decision and nobody expected Dhoni to resign midway through a series. Hussain, who had captained Dhoni in the Sismahal Cricket tournament in the late 1990s, added "The BCCI should request him to continue as a wicketkeeper/batsman as he is the best in the country now and there is no replacement for him."

Asked whether the reported controversy in the Indian team's dressing room had been the trigger for Dhoni's resignation, he said, "Such things do happen even among friends in any walk of life. So it is not serious." Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) Secretary Rajsesh Verma said, "I am surprised that Dhoni has called it quits from test cricket in the middle of the series.

I will certainly wish Dhoni to continue in the ongoing series and represent the country as Captain in the whole series." A former Ranji Trophy coach of Jharkhand, Kajal Das said Dhoni was a talented and wise cricketer and he would take a right decision.

"I think it is the right time for Dhoni to call it quits from Test cricket", Das, a former Ranji cricketer under whose tutelage Dhoni had earlier represented Jharkhand in Ranji Trophy, said. Das pointed out it was not easy for a wicketkeepter-batsman to handle all the formats of game so successfully.

Dhoni, currecntly visiting Australia, today surprised the cricket world with his sudden announcement of immediate retirement from Test cricket, making way for Virat Kohli to don the mantle of captaincy.