Sunil Gavaskar: Not surprised by MS Dhoni's retirement, he knew Virat Kohli was ready to take over

MS Dhoni

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has said that he wasn't taken aback by Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s decision to call time on his Test career. The 33-year-old announced his retirement from the longer format of the game on Tuesday, after helping India salvage a draw in the third Test at Melbourne.

Gavaskar felt that Dhoni realised that Virat Kohli was ready to take over the mantle in Tests and hence his decision wasn't a very surprising one.

"Dhoni knew Virat Kohli was ready to step in and therefore his decision is not surprising," he told NDTV.

“The burden on him mounted over the last two-three days in Melbourne. Had India won at MCG, Dhoni would have been in a better frame of mind to resign after the Sydney Test," he added.

The 65-year-old also felt that it was wrong to accuse Dhoni of leaving the team when they were down.

"I don't agree with this view. I have been a captain and there is a time when the burden becomes just too much and you think the next man will do a better job. It may not be tactically, but the next captain may have better luck," he said.

Another former captain Sourav Ganguly, meanwhile, had earlier said that the man from Ranchi hadn't been up to the mark in Tests as a captain, and added that he was impressed by the passion that Virat Kohli had shown in the first Test at Adelaide.

"It's not just these two matches, it's for a while now (that Dhoni has struggled). He just has not really got the team going at Test match level. That's up to the selectors, but he has had a lot of time as captain, close to 60 Test matches. I think he has had a lot of time," Ganguly said.

"I think he (Kohli) is the future. He will be captain of India. You need positivity. You need positive captains. MS will captain at the World Cup, then we'll have to see what happens after that."