The end is nigh

2014 wasn't the best of years for M S Dhoni and 2015 doesn't look too promising either

Earlier this month, Forbes named Mahendra Singh Dhoni the richest sportsperson in India. With total earnings of Rs 141.80 crore, the 34-year-old India captain was ahead of all but three celebrities in India. Perhaps this is the only contest that Dhoni could have won in 2014. Otherwise, it has been quite a forgettable year for the Indian skipper. Indifferent form with the bat, question marks over his captaincy, an abysmal record as Test captain and with a young and hungry successor waiting in the wings, it won't be wrong to assert that Dhoni finds himself in unfamiliar territory.

India's record in the last 18 Test matches away from home is, quite frankly, shocking. India hasn't managed to win a single series abroad and has managed to win just one Test since 2011. Thirteen losses, including series defeats to New Zealand and England in 2014, would have got most other captains the sack. But Dhoni, surprisingly, still manages to lead the country. This year began on a disastrous note for Dhoni as India managed to lose both the Test and ODI series against New Zealand. In fact, the team couldn't win a single game on the tour. Dhoni's defensive captaincy in the Test matches came under heavy criticism and things didn't look like improving.

A loss in the final of T20 World Cup against Sri Lanka came in April 2014 and it did seem like the Midas touch was starting to desert Dhoni even in the shortest format of the game. The tour to England was being billed as a chance to avenge the shameful 4-0 whitewash of 2011. The tour started on a bright note as India beat England at Lord's in the first Test match. But what followed was normal service under Dhoni and India managed to lose three of the next four Test matches. Again, Dhoni was criticised by former cricketers for his poor captaincy and decision making. The decision of batting first on a green top pitch at Old Trafford in the fourth Test with the series evenly poised at 1-1 was particularly a bizarre one. The Indian batsmen couldn't get past 200 and were duly walloped within three days.

However, in the ODIs, India showed resilience and won the series 3-1. Dhoni showed that in ODIs, he was still the right man to lead India. His batting form, however, in both forms of the game was nothing much to write home about. In eight Test matches, he scored 499 runs at an average of 33.26, whereas in 12 ODIs he scored 418 runs at an average of 52.25.

In January 2012, Dhoni had remarked that he would step down if India could find a better captain. "It's not something I want to hold on to or stick on to. If there's a better replacement, it's a very open thing, he can come in," Dhoni had said. Virat Kohli's captaincy debut in the first Test against Australia in Brisbane ended in a defeat but there were positive signs. Kohli, at the moment, seems to be a better person to lead India. At 34, Dhoni isn't getting younger and hasn't shown anything that leads you to believe that he remains the right man for the job, at least in Test matches.

The coming year will perhaps be the year when Dhoni won't be the captain in all forms of the game. He had hinted that after the 2015 World Cup, he would quit one form of the game. India are defending champions and Dhoni would want to leave on a high, at least in the short form of the game. Dhoni won't be pushed - though he should have been sacked as Test skipper a long time back - as he enjoys too much "popularity" with the Board of Control for Cricket in India. As a cricketer, Dhoni still has a lot to offer in ODIs as he still remains one of the best finishers around. But in Test cricket, questions still remain about what he can offer to the team both as captain and a batsman. India's next Test series is against Bangladesh away from home in June 2015. © written in front of Mahendra Singh Dhoni's name is an unlikely sight.