'It came as a huge surprise' - Ravi Shastri recalls MS Dhoni's shocking retirement from Test cricket

Ravi Shastri completed his tenure as the head coach of the Indian team after the T20 World Cup 2021. The Indian team reached new heights under his coaching. During his time, the reign of Indian cricket shifted hands and he shared a special bond with both MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli.

In the last few days, Shastri has shared his views on several issues related to Indian cricket. A few days back, he spoke regarding the tussle between Kohli and BCCI over the ODI captaincy issue. Shastri also shared some of the anecdotes from the time when he was the coach of the team.

On Sunday, during an interaction with Star Sports, Shastri revealed how Dhoni announced his retirement from Test cricket to his teammates. At the end of the Boxing Day Test in 2014 against Australia, Dhoni shocked the world by bringing the curtains down on his career in whites. Shastri was the team director at that time and mentioned that nobody in the team knew of Dhoni’s decision and he casually announced it to his mates.

“It came as a huge surprise in Melbourne when he said ‘I am finishing with Test cricket’. In fact, he just casually walked up to me and said, ‘Ravi bhai, I need to speak to the boys’. I said ‘sure’. So I thought he would say something; we’d drawn a great game, batted last day. To draw that match was tremendous stuff.

“And he comes out, bolt out of the blue, ‘I am done with Test cricket’. And I just saw the faces around the dressing room, they were in a state of shock, most of them. But that’s MS for you,” Shastri said.

Ravi Shastri revealed MS Dhoni knew who will lead the team after him

The former India head coach then went on to speak that MS Dhoni knew that Virat Kohli was ready to take over the captaincy duties. He also pointed out that Dhoni wanted to prolong his white-ball career, and that was the reason he decided to hang his boots.

“He knew who was the next leader in the line. He was just waiting for the opportune time to make that announcement because he knew how much his body could take. He wanted to prolong his white-ball career. When his body tells him it’s enough, it’s enough. There’s no second thoughts with MS,” Shastri said.