On April 30, midway through the IPL 2022, Ravindra Jadeja stepped down from Chennai Super Kings captaincy and has handed it back to MS Dhoni. Former CSK player Imran Tahir believes this is a good thing for both Jadeja and the team.
Jadeja took over the mantle from Dhoni just a few days before the start of the ongoing season. But his captaincy career got off to a disastrous start with four consecutive losses and only two victories from eight matches. One of the big talking points was how the captaincy affected the all-rounder’s own form as he managed only 112 runs at a strike rate of 122 and five wickets in those eight games.
The Super Kings said in an announcement tweet that Jadeja has requested Dhoni to take back the captaincy so that he can focus on his own performance.
Talking to ESPNcricinfo, Tahir said it is not necessarily a bad thing and would only help the all-rounder. He stated that it is Jadeja’s grandeur that he was able to hand over captaincy to Dhoni.
“I believe it’s a pretty good thing. It’s an honor to lead such a big franchise. Jadeja, as we know, is a world-class player, But unfortunately, he couldn’t replicate that as a captain.
So I think it’s his grandeur that he stepped down himself and handed over the team’s responsibility to Dhoni bhai. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. It will possibly reduce the pressure on Jadeja and he’ll be able to play his natural game and concentrate on that.”
The South African leg-spinner added that Jadeja has nothing to feel down about. The 43-year-old thinks that apart from focusing on his own game, Jadeja wants the team to do well for the remainder of the season.
“Dhoni is one of the world’s best captains who has run this team for so many years. It’s a great thing. There’s no need for Jadeja to feel down that he couldn’t do well. He probably thought that irrespective of where they finish, the team should at least play good, confident cricket in the remaining matches and Mahi bhai will have a big role to play in that,”
he added.
Dhoni’s leadership achievements are so widely known that there’s a belief that he adds a great value to the team just as a tactician, even with his waning batting form in recent years. But even with all that genius, he has a huge task ahead of him as CSK need to win all of the remaining six games to reach the playoffs.
CSK are placed ninth on the points table with only four points to their credit. They next take on Sunrisers Hyderabad at MCA Stadium in Pune on April 1.
The future of CSK, however, looks uncertain at the moment when Dhoni eventually hangs his boots. Jadeja was given the captaincy ahead of the season as a successor to the 40-year-old but his resignation midway through the tournament casts plenty of doubts over his future as a captain and who would lead the Super Kings in coming years.
