With Chennai Super Kings handing over captaincy back to MS Dhoni, questions are being raised on this decision making process.
Right at the start of IPL 2022, MS Dhoni gave up the captaincy to pass on the baton to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Jadeja fared poorly in his short stay as captain, losing 6 games out of 8 matches.
'It's not easy to be MS Dhoni'
MSD Fans get emotional as he returns as #CSK captain!@msdhoni @ChennaiIPL #IPL2022 https://t.co/ms7zo8BifG
— Zee News English (@ZeeNewsEnglish) April 30, 2022
"Ravindra Jadeja has decided to relinquish captaincy to focus and concentrate more on his game & has requested MS Dhoni to lead CSK. MS Dhoni has accepted to lead CSK in the larger interest & to allow Jadeja to focus on his game," read the CSK release.
Going by the release, the decision seems to have been taken by Jadeja. However, an IPL insider told PTI that nothing happens at CSK without Dhoni's approval.
"Look, nothing happens in CSK without MSD's approval. He is the first, second, third and last word when it comes to cricketing matters. Doesn't matter who captains the side.
"If CSK would have announced Dhoni's decision to step down two months before IPL, it would have affected the potential team sponsors' morale. Once the sponsors were all locked in, it's safer to make an announcement," a BCCI insider, who has been tracking developments explained.
The same PTI report also suggested that due to Dhoni's dominance at CSK, one of the current IPL captains refused to lead Chennai.
One of the prominent current India players, who is leading another franchise in the tournament was sounded out by CSK with offers of joint captaincy alongside Dhoni but the player declined, knowing that in case the team failed, the blame will be upon him and if the team won, the accolades will all go to Dhoni.
While Jadeja on record said that Dhoni had told him about CSK captaincy at least two months before the IPL began, there were lot of conjectures as to why the announcement was made 24 hours before the start of the tournament.
