Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the most successful skipper of the Indian national cricket team had once again surprised everyone by stepping down from the responsibility of leading the team in limited overs cricket. The 35-year old iconic player communicated his decision to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday, which in turn made the news official through a media release. The BCCI has confirmed that MS Dhoni will still be available as a player for the upcoming limited overs series against England starting on January 15.

“We have a communication from India’s limited-overs Captain MS Dhoni that he had decided to step down from the skipper’s role. The Board has accepted his request. He will be available as a player for the upcoming series against England”, a release from BCCI said.

“Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been Indian cricket’s most successful captain who led the young team with his iconic cool temperament. The BCCI thanks him for the service he has rendered to the Indian national team as a skipper, leading from the front”, the BCCI added.

Though the BCCI has not yet announced the immediate replacement for MS Dhoni, it is evident that Virat Kohli will most likely lead the limited overs side. There are rumors that the board may consider giving T20 captaincy to a player other than Virat Kohli to ease pressure off him.

Dhoni has been India’s most successful captain and the best finisher in limited overs cricket. Under his leadership, the Indian cricket team has captured all the three major ICC trophies, the ICC T20 World Cup in 2007, the ICC World Cup in 2011 and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. Dhoni also holds the record of captaining the most number of games for an international side with 33 1 games across all the formats. He is also the only player to captain a team in 50 plus matches in each format, the Cricbuzz reports.

Having started his career in 2004, Dhoni rose up the ranks to become the captain of the India’s first T20 team. He later took over as the ODI captain from Rahul Dravid and became a full-time captain after the retirement of Anil Kumble from test cricket. MS Dhoni has already retired from Test cricket in 2014 and his last series win as an ODI captain was against the New Zealand at home in 2016.

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