Dhoni was not contributing enough to the Test team: Mohinder Amarnath

MS Dhoni’s record as India’s Test captain puts him near the top of the tree if not at the very top. And in the wake of his sudden retirement from Test cricket, there have been naturally plenty of hosannas for what has been a remarkable career in many ways. While most commentators have chosen to assess Dhoni the captain as opposed to Dhoni the cricketer, in his column for the Times of India, former selector Mohinder Amarnath took a close look at the player and concluded that “in the last two years I felt Dhoni was simply not doing enough justice to his talent and also was not adding enough value to the Test team.” [caption id=“attachment_2024709” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  MS Dhoni (left) wasn’t doing enough for India. Getty Sports[/caption] That assessment could be one reason Dhoni decided to retire from Test cricket rather than just step down as captain. As it is he has plenty of miles on him and naturally wanted to preserve his body for the shorter formats of the game. Having to fight for his place as a wicket-keeper batsman against younger, more agile men such as Wriddhiman Saha and Robin Uthappa, would have been an additional strain Amarnath was also critical of Dhoni’s leadership over the last few years. “You really can’t control the game or lead from the front in a Test match if you are batting at No. 7,” he wrote. “Gradually , his captaincy lost all flair and aggression, especially abroad, and very often he was guilty of letting a game drift and letting the opposition off when he should have been exerting pressure.” Amarnath did give Dhoni credit for his early successes as batsman and captain and batsman, but pointed out Dhoni had a “magnificent team” to back him up. “He had some great performances, particularly at home, and has won a couple of games off his own bat. When he took over the reins of captaincy, he had a magnificent team that did really very well in India and also reasonably well abroad. The personnel he had at his disposal made him a successful captain and India rose to the top of the Test rankings.” You can read the full column here.