Chennai Super Kings announced that MS Dhoni is back to lead the franchise with Ravindra Jadeja relinquishing the role he took up at the start of the Indian Premier League 2022 season.
The defending IPL champions made the announcement on Saturday, with Dhoni returning to lead the franchise he had been captain of since the inaugural season. The 40-year-old led Chennai to four IPL titles, the most recent being in the 2021 season.
A statement issued by CSK read, “Ravindra Jadeja has decided to relinquish captaincy to focus and concentrate more on his game and has requested MS Dhoni to lead CSK. MS Dhoni has accepted to lead CSK in the larger interest and to allow Jadeja to focus on his game.”
At the time of the announcement by the franchise, CSK were second-last on the IPL 2022 points table with just two wins from eight matches.
| Team | Pld | Won | Lost | Net RR | Pts | Form |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GT | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0.377 | 16 | WWWWW |
| RR | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0.561 | 12 | WWWLW |
| LSG | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0.408 | 12 | WWLWL |
| SRH | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0.600 | 10 | LWWWW |
| RCB | 10 | 5 | 5 | -0.558 | 10 | LLLWW |
| DC | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0.695 | 8 | WLWLW |
| PBKS | 9 | 4 | 5 | -0.470 | 8 | LWLLW |
| KKR | 9 | 3 | 6 | -0.006 | 6 | LLLLL |
| CSK | 8 | 2 | 6 | -0.538 | 4 | LWLWL |
| MI | 8 | 0 | 8 | -1.000 | 0 | LLLLL |
CSK’s season is in danger of being over early in terms of their playoff hopes, with six points from eight points. Jadeja’s personal form has been one of the concern areas for the franchise.
Ravindra Jadeja in IPL (batting)
| Year | Mat | Runs | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 208 | 2498 | 62* | 26.86 | 1955 | 127.77 | 2 |
| 2022 | 8 | 112 | 26* | 22.40 | 92 | 121.74 | 0 |
Ravindra Jadeja in IPL (bowling)
| Year | Mat | Balls | Runs | WKTS | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 4W | 5W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 208 | 3163 | 4029 | 132 | 5/16 | 30.52 | 7.64 | 23.96 | 3 | 1 |
| 2022 | 8 | 156 | 213 | 5 | 3/39 | 42.60 | 8.19 | 31.20 | 0 | 0 |
Dhoni has led CSK in every season the franchise has been part of the IPL and that record will now continue into 2022. The former India captain, 40 now, starred in one of the two matches his side has managed to win this season so far against fellow strugglers and five-time champions Mumbai Indians. Jadeja, who part of Chennai Super Kings since 2012, was only be the third player to lead CSK after Dhoni and Suresh Raina.
CSK’s next match is against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday.
Also read:
IPL 2022: The big question surrounding Ravindra Jadeja’s appointment as CSK captain
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