Mahendra Singh Dhoni Retires as Team India Test Captain: A Career Overview

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is India's most successful captain and wicketkeeper-batsman in Test cricket.(Dhoni Retires From Test Cricket)

He made his Test debut against Sri Lanka at Chennai in 2005-06. In the next series, played in Pakistan, he scored a belligerent 148 in the second Test at Faisalabad. He also held five catches in the game. He went on to score five more hundreds in his Test career. Probably his best innings in the traditional format was the match-winning 224 that he scored against Australia at Chennai in 2012-13. The knock spanned 265 balls, and comprised 24 fours and six sixes. Among his other match-winning hundreds were an unbeaten 132 against South Africa in 2009-10, and 144 against the West Indies in 2011-12, both at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. He scored two centuries in the 2009-10 home series against Sri Lanka. Another significant innings of his was an unbeaten 76 against England at Lord's in 2007, which enabled India to draw a close game. India went on to win the next Test at Nottingham, and held on to their lead to win the three-match series 1-0.('Dhoni Should Have Quit After Series')

The victory in England apart, Dhoni was a member of the Indian team that won a Test series in the West Indies in 2006. It was India's first series triumph in the Caribbean since 1971. He was one of the prominent members of the Indian team that won series on home soil against Sri Lanka and Pakistan in 2005-06 and 2007-08 respectively, and won a series in Bangladesh in 2007.

Dhoni made his debut as India's Test captain against South Africa at Kanpur in 2007-08, when Anil Kumble, the incumbent, was injured. He got off to a flying start, leading India to a series-levelling victory by eight wickets. He led India again in Kumble's absence, against Australia at Mohali, in what was the second Test of the 2008-09 series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. India won that game by 320 runs. Dhoni led from the front, with knocks of 92 and 68*. Kumble announced his retirement after the next Test at Delhi, and Dhoni was then formally appointed India's Test captain. He commenced his tenure with a 172-win over Australia at Nagpur, which enabled India to win the series 2-0 and take possession of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time since 2003-04.('Dhoni Knew Kohli Was Ready')

Dhoni subsequently led India to series wins over England in 2008-09, Sri Lanka in 2009-10, Australia and New Zealand in 2010-11, and the West Indies in 2011-12 and 2013-14 respectively. India became the no. 1 team in the ICC's Test Rankings for the very first time, after the 2-0 series win against Sri Lanka in 2009-10. Dhoni was the first Indian captain to receive the ICC Test Championship Mace for this achievement.(Tendulkar Leads Tributes on Dhoni)

With Dhoni at the helm, India squared two consecutive series against South Africa, at home in 2009-10, and overseas in 2010-11. He captained India to series wins in New Zealand in 2008-09, in Bangladesh in 2009-10 and in the West Indies in 2011. India squared a series 1-1 in Sri Lanka in mid-2010.

In early 2013, Dhoni became the first Indian captain to win four Tests in a series, when India defeated Australia 4-0 to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He entered the record books in the second Test of that series, played at Hyderabad. India's win by an innings and 135 runs was his 22nd as captain, thus enabling him to surpass Sourav Ganguly's tally of 21 wins as captain, and become India's most successful Test skipper ever.

Behind the stumps, Dhoni was outstanding. When he caught West Indies' Marlon Samuels off R. Ashwin at Delhi in November 2011, he became the first Indian wicketkeeper to complete 200 dismissals in Tests. Syed Kirmani, who held the record earlier, had 198 dismissals to his credit, from 88 Tests. Dhoni surpassed the mark in only his 62nd Test.

At the end of the Melbourne Test of the ongoing series against Australia, Dhoni had led India in sixty Tests, which is a national record. They comprised 27 victories.

BCCI is proud of his achievements as a player and captain in Test Cricket.

The most defining moment of his captaincy was when he received the ICC Test Championship mace for being the number one Test team.