Rahul Dravid to M S Dhoni: Quit T20 captaincy but remain Test skipper

Dravid said Dhoni, if he still has the zeal, should continue to lead the side in its transition phase and quit when the side settles down.

"Between the home series against Australia next month and the end of that England tour, there are 15 Test matches.

"At the end of those 15 Tests, if Dhoni can have turned things around for Indian cricket, have had a couple of good overseas tours, and can then hand over the captaincy to the next man, that would rank among his greatest achievements," he said.

"He would have taken the responsibility of leading a team in transition and left it in a better state." Dravid praised Dhoni for leading by example and showing tenacity in adversity.

"What I like about Dhoni is that he is a leader by example. We saw this in the Nagpur Test match - and not merely from his second-innings 99. In Nagpur, because the wicket was slow, Dhoni came up to the stumps to Ishant Sharma, who was bowling at 140kph.

"To do that was gutsy, because it had "break your finger" written all over it. Dhoni was willing to take that chance, and to me, in some ways, that shows leadership. Sometimes he promotes himself up the batting order at critical times – the World Cup final was a good example," he recalled.

"He is willing to play through niggles and injuries. That provides an example for others in the team to follow. When he bats with the tail, he plays his shots, can improvise, and shows he is not there to protect his own runs or his wicket," he said.

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