New Delhi: Senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja's poor stint as the captain of second most successful team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) history came to an end on Saturday, just a day before his team Chennai Super Kings' ninth match in the IPL 2022 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Before the start of the 15th season of IPL, Chennai Super Kings' captaincy was handed over to Ravindra Jadeja. Veteran wicket-keeper batter MS Dhoni had handed over CSK's captaincy to Jadeja.
The move to make Ravindra Jadeja captain clearly did not work out for the four-time IPL winners CSK, as they were struggling badly under his captaincy.
The defending champions are currently placed at the ninth spot in IPL 2022 Points Table after just two wins from their 8 games. If reports are to be believed, Jadeja was forced to step down as CSK captain as he was under immense pressure, and was even struggling with his own form.
In IPL 2022 so far, Jadeja has scored 112 runs and has bagged only five wickets. The franchise, in their official statement, said that the 33-year-old decided to step down as CSK skipper to focus more on his individual game.
Cricketing legends react to Jadeja handing CSK captaincy back to MS Dhoni
“We have been saying this from day 1 that if MS Dhoni is not the captain then nothing can happen to Chennai. Better late than never. They still have the opportunity, they have matches in their hand, now there will be a turnaround,” India great Virender Sehwag reacted to the news on Cricbuzz.
“When they made him the captain, I don't think he had a choice, now that his captaincy has been taken away, he still didn't have an option. If Dhoni is there in a team, he has to be the captain. I said the same thing even when India were playing in the 2019 World Cup. I think somewhere Jadeja is happy as well. It was indeed a huge burden on his shoulder,” former India cricketer Ajay Jadeja added.
"I really Feel for Ravindra Jadeja. Let’s hope it doesn’t effect him as a cricketer in a negative way," ex-India cricketer Irfan Pathan tweeted.
“There were questions whether there was a lot on his plate and it hasn't quite worked out and he realised that. He has come to terms with the fact that he is not ready at this stage and he has a really good guy to fall back on in MSD. He ha has a huge amount of experience and has a calm character and may be now Jadeja can have a great end to the season with the bat and ball,” former South Africa captain Graeme Smith told Star Sports.