Bengaluru, Jan 4: Ahead of the home series against England, India's most successful limited overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has stepped down, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced today (January 4). Dhoni's decision came as a bolt from the blue for the cricketing world. However, he will be available for selection as a player.

Ind-Eng series schedule; Indian squads out on January 6

The senior selection committee of the BCCI will pick the One Day International and Twenty20 International squads on Friday (January 6). The 3-match India-England ODI series starts in Pune on January 15. (Sachin on Dhoni's decision)

"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," BCCI said in a media advisory on Wednesday evening (January 4). (Twitter reactions)

"He will be available for the selection for the Paytm One Day Trophy and Paytm T20I Trophy against England and the same has been conveyed to the Senior Selection Committee," it added.

"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," BCCI's Chief Executive Officer Rahul Johri said. Johri is currently in-charge of BCCI's daily operations after the Supreme Court sacked president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke.

The 35-year-old Dhoni is the only captain in history to have won all three International Cricket Council's (ICC) global trophies - World Twenty20 (2007), World Cup (2011) and Champions Trophy (2013). Dhoni retired from Test cricket in December 2014. Dhoni was made India's captain in 2007.

Dhoni is India's most succesful captain in all 3 formats - Tests, ODIs and T20Is. He led India in 60 Tests with 27 wins. In ODIs, he was at the helm for 199 matches, winning 110 and losing 74 (4 tied and 11 no results). In 72 T20Is as captain, he won 42 and lost 28 (2 no results).

Overall, Dhoni led India in 331 matches across all 3 formats. This is a world record. The next best is Ricky Ponting of Australia with 324 games.

Dhoni's last match as India's ODI captain was against New Zealand on October 29, 2016 in Visakhapatnam. India won by 190 runs to claim the five-match series 3-2. Dhoni scored 41 in that game.

One of the greatest captains in the limited overs format, Dhoni was under pressure to relinquish his position after the success of Virat Kohli in the Test arena. Recently, India thrashed England 4-0 in the five-Test rubber under Kohli's captaincy.

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