Wrong to presume Dhoni quit due to bad overseas record, says childhood coach

Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s childhood coach Chanchal Bhattacharya doesn’t think that the hard-hitting wicketkeeper quit Tests because of his bad overseas record. “If you look at the record of India’s past captains in Tests overseas, it isn’t that great. So it’s wrong to presume that as the reason behind his decision,” he was quoted as saying in a report on IBN Live . [caption id=“attachment_2023731” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] MS Dhoni. PTI[/caption] Dhoni’s sprang a surprise by announcing his retirement after drawing the third Test against Australia — a result which guaranteed the home team of a series win, and continued India’s wretched recent overseas record. Bhattacharya said that although he knew Dhoni was thinking about his Test career, he didn’t expect the decision to retire: “I talked to him a few months back, but we didn’t discuss his retirement, though he did mention that it is around the corner. Also, he had hinted about it a year back that he has to take a look at this Test career.” The Ranchi-based coach also said that ‘Captain Cool’ could have played Tests for another year. Dhoni will continue to play the shorter formats of the game and Bhattacharya is confident that even post World Cup, the bike-loving skipper will continue playing at least T20s. “My thinking is that his decision is based on his desire to win the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, of which I have not doubt whatsoever,” he added.