'He looked a fish out of water' - Ravi Shastri defends Ravindra Jadeja's CSK captaincy stint

Prior to the start of IPL 2022, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) announced a change in leadership as MS Dhoni made way for Ravindra Jadeja. Many had their eyes glued on Jadeja as the star CSK all-rounder had big shoes to fill in and deliver the goods for the four-time winners and the defending champions in the 15th season.

Nonetheless, Jadeja's captaincy stint for the Yellow Army was a forgettable affair, where he managed to lead the side to only two wins from eight encounters. With his own performances also not being upto the mark, with both bat and ball, the 33-year-old stepped down from the post and requested his predecessor Dhoni to once again take up the top job before Chennai's ninth game of the season (versus Sunrisers Hyderabad).

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Speaking onESPNcricinfo's T20 Time Out, India's former head coach Ravi Shastri opened up on Jadeja's CSK captaincy stint. While Shastri agreed that the change in captaincy led to CSK's downfall this season,he defended Jadeja and refrained from blaming him for CSK's woeful run. He said, "He [Jadeja] is not a natural captain. He hasn't captained at any level. So, to give him the responsibility I thought was a little hard on Jadeja. People might want to judge Jaddu, but it's not his fault. He hasn't captained anywhere. He looked a fish out of water, totally out of place and he's far better off playing as a player. Because he's one of the best around in the business, when it comes to allrounders."

"So let him just focus on his cricket. That [decision to give him the captaincy] cost CSK a few games early on. If you see the form they're in now, if they had this going early on, they'll be right up there in the mix, Shastri further added.

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After relinquishing CSK captaincy, Jadeja looked in some control with the ball and bowled some tidy spells but failed to get going in the franchise's reverse fixture against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) during a tricky run-chase. In the same encounter, he injured himself and is reportedly out of the remainder of IPL 2022.

Jadeja's numbers in IPL 2022 have also been below-par. He has only accounted for five scalps and struck at a woeful118.36. If his season has ended due to injury, it surely has been a forgettable one for the star cricketer.