Shastri questions CSK’s Jadeja captaincy call after worst-ever IPL start

Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the defending champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) title, incurred their worst ever start to an IPL season as they lost four in a row in the 15th edition of the tournament to slump to the bottom end of the table.

Following their fourth loss, which came against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday, former India head coach Ravi Shastri questioned the logic behind MS Dhoni and CSK naming Ravindra Jadeja as the new captain before the start of the season.

Shastri feels that if Dhoni had decided to step down from the role then CSK shouldn’t have released Faf du Plessis before the mega auction and should have gone ahead with the South African cricketer as their new captain which would allow Jadeja to play more “freely”.

“I feel that someone like Jadeja, he should focus on his own game. If Chennai were to think back, they wouldn’t have let go of Faf du Plessis,” Shastri said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out Hindi after CSK lost by eight wickets against SRH. He [du Plessis] is a match-winner, he has won the IPL with Chennai, he has a lot of experience.”

Dhoni led CSK since the inaugural season in IPL, leading them to 11 play-off appearances in their 12 seasons and four trophies. However, just two days before the start of the season, Dhoni relinquished the position, passing on the baton to Jadeja, who had never captained a senior side and his last experience as a leader was back in his U-19 days when he led the Indian side in 2007 for a while.

Although few did support the call given Jadeja’s steady rise in international cricket over the last few years, the result did not turn in CSK’s favour as they lost their first four matches in IPL 2022, hence giving rise to criticism over the captaincy call.

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan had mentioned that Dhoni had been considering the decision for a while and that “he felt it is the right time to hand over captaincy to Jaddu [Jadeja]”. However, Shastri felt that if such was the case then CSK should have probably retained Faf for the role.

“If Dhoni was thinking of giving up the captaincy, then Faf should have been given the job, and Jadeja should have continued as [just] a player. He would have played freely, without the pressure of captaincy. Things could have been different for Chennai then,” the former India all-rounder said.

The former South Africa captain was later roped in by Royal Challengers Bangalore and was later named their captain as Virat Kohli had stepped down from captaincy after IPL 2021. RCB have won three straight matches in a row while losing just one in their four games this season.