'You don't want him to feel that captaincy was...': MS Dhoni on Ravindra Jadeja quitting as CSK skipper

It has been a musical chair when it comes to captaincy in the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) camp in IPL 2022 edition. Just two days prior to IPL15's commencement, MS Dhoni resigned as captain and Ravindra Jadeja was named his successor. After eight games, with CSK losing six of them and languishing at the penultimate position in the points table, Jadeja gave up captaincy and requested Dhoni to take over once again.

With Dhoni back at the helm, CSK returned to winning ways and claimed their third game of the season with a 13-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in match 46 of IPL 2022, at the MCA Stadium, Pune on Sunday evening (May 01). Being asked to bat first, CSK rode on Ruturaj Gaikwad's 99 and Devon Conway's 85 not out to post 202/2 on a batting surface.

In reply, SRH posted 189-6 with a blistering 33-ball 64 and skipper Kane Williamson's 47 but lost the plot in the middle overs with the ball turning and gripping a bit. One stand-out thing was that Jadeja played and bowled with a free mind, returning with 3-0-15-0, whereas Dhoni also looked at his usual best by guiding his bowlers and remaining proactive behind the stumps as captain.

When asked about the change of captaincy in the CSK camp, Dhoni explained the entire scenario and shared how the added responsibility took a toll on Jadeja. At the post-match presentation, he said, "Between me and Jadeja, he knew last season itself that he will be given a chance to captain this year. He knew and got enough time to prepare, what is important is you want him to lead the side and I wanted that transition to happen. In the first 2 games, there was information going in towards 'Jaddu' and after that I left it to him to decide which angle to bowl and all that," Dhoni opined.

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"At the end of the season, you don't want him to feel as the captaincy was done by someone else and I'm just going for toss. So it was a gradual transition. Spoon-feeding doesn't really help captain, on the field you have to take those crucial decisions and you have to take responsibility for those decisions," added MSD.

CSK still remain alive -- by the barest of margins -- in the playoffs race with three wins from nine games. They, however, remain at the ninth spot with a negative NRR and, hence, have lots to do in order to progress into the top four.