MS Dhoni's Retirement And Aston Agar Inclusion Are The Big Talking Point Ahead Of The Sydney Test

India's long standing cricket captain MS Dhoni surprised one and all when he announced his retirement from Test Match cricket with immediate effect. His final contribution was being there for his team in the middle and guiding them to a draw in the Boxing Day Test Match at Melbourne. Soon afterwards the Australian selectors surprised the Australian cricket fans when they included Ashton Agar for the fourth and final Test Match of the series starting from Jan. 6 at Sydney.

MS Dhoni has had a very illustrious career as a captain of the Indian Cricket Team. He led them to victory in the inaugural T20 World Cup at South Africa in 2007. He guided his Test Team to the number one position in the Test Match ranking in 2009, after taking over the Test Match captaincy in 2008. He won the 50 overs World Cup in 2011 on home soil and the 2013 Champions Trophy in England.

He had captained his national side in 60 of the 90 Test Matches that he played. In doing so he had become the most successful Indian Test captain with 27 Test Match wins. Unfortunately most of his wins came in the subcontinent where he won 21 matches. Overseas he managed only 6 wins in 30 matches. The tours to England and Australia are where his limitations as a captain came to the fore. Some experts believed that he was too defensive and could not take the opportunities when they presented itself because of that mindset. In the shorter formats of the game he will continue to lead his country.

Aston Agar, the left arm spinner, played two Test Matches in England as a teenager. He impressed everybody with his batting skills when he scored 98 on debut. The selectors will now hope to see such impressive performances with the ball. Sydney being the most spinner friendly pitch in Australia would be an added advantage for him. With the series already decided it would also be easier for Agar to be less stressed about the whole come back situation.

To contact author of this article, email a.biswas@IBTimes.com.au.