Star Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as the captain of ODI and T20 team.
Dhoni, however, said that he will be available for selection for the upcoming matches against England.
"Mahendra Singh Dhoni has informed the BCCI, that he wishes to step down as the captain of the Indian Cricket Team from the One Day Internationals and the T20 Internationals formats of the game," a statement by the BCCI said.
While expressing his desire to quit captaincy, Dhoni however conveyed to the selection committee that he will be available for selection for the three ODIs and as many T20s against England starting January 15.
One of the most successful captains in the Indian cricket, Dhoni, 35, had earlier suddenly quit Test captaincy during the Australia tour in 2014 in Melbourne.
Dhoni has led India in 199 ODI matches in which the team won 110 matches. He led the team in 72 T20Is in which India won 41 matches.
Under his captaincy, India won the ICC T20 World Cup in 2007, the ICC ODI World Cup in 2011, ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 and also reached the top of the Test rankings in 2009.
Commenting on Dhoni's sudden announcement, Rahul Johri, Chief Executive Officer of the BCCI said, "On the behalf of every Indian cricket fan and the BCCI, I would like to thank MS Dhoni for his outstanding contribution as the captain of the Indian team across all formats. Under his leadership, Indian team has touched new heights and his achievements will remain etched forever in the annals of Indian cricket."
He has so far played 283 matches in the ODI format and has scores over 9,000 runs.
The announcement has cleared the way for Test captain Virat Kohli to take over the captaincy in all formats.
