Dhoni steps aside, hands over CSK captaincy to Jadeja
MUMBAI: Twelve seasons, four title triumphs and five runner-up finishes later, the iconic Mahendra Singh Dhoni has decided to hand over the captaincy of Chennai Super Kings to his trusted lieutenant, Ravindra Jadeja.
However, in a brief statement, CSK said the 40-year-old will continue to represent the franchise for the “season and beyond”, having led one of the most successful Indian Premier League sides since the tournament’s inception in 2008 -- barring the two seasons when the team was suspended in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal.
“MS Dhoni has decided to hand over the leadership of Chennai Super Kings and picked Ravindra Jadeja to lead the team. Jadeja, who has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings since 2012, will only be the third player to lead CSK,” said CSK in a statement on Thursday.
“Dhoni will continue to represent Chennai Super Kings this season and beyond,” the franchise added.
Dhoni, 40, who had announced his international retirement on August 15, 2020, had led CSK to their fourth title last season.
CSK play Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2022 opener in Mumbai on Saturday.
Though Dhoni carried on to play the IPL after announcing his international retirement in his inimitable style, his decision to hand over the CSK leadership to Jadeja was not entirely surprising.
Dhoni knew that he can’t go on forever and the 33-year-old Jadeja, who is at the peak of his prowess, is ready for the challenge. The southpaw was CSK’s number one retention before the auction ahead of Dhoni, Moeen Ali and Ruturaj Gaekwad.
NEW DELHI: If Hardik Pandya wasn’t a seam bowling allrounder – an elusive commodity in Indian cricket’s landscape– his quest for relevance may have been a lost battle by now. That there is still hope pinned on Pandya eventually stringing the jigsaw pieces together is because he brings a set of all-round skills the India team is always on the lookout for.
Not much has gone right for Pandya over the past six months. He was axed from India’s limited-over teams after their early exit from the T20 World Cup in November, demoted from Grade A to C in BCCI’s central contracts list and released by Mumbai Indians after they had invested a lot of time and money in harnessing his potential.
And yet, he’s been handed the responsibility of captaining a new IPL franchise in Gujarat Titans. He was chosen as their first pick in the window given to select three players before the mega auction in February. After all, Pandya can still lay claim to being one of the most explosive finishers in world cricket currently, aside from being a gun fielder and a handy medium-pacer. The second and third choices were Rashid Khan and Shubman Gill.
Any talk about Pandya’s utility as a bowler must come with a caveat for he has seldom bowled over the past couple of years owing to a back injury that surfaced in 2018. He didn’t roll his arm over in IPL 2021 and delivered just four overs in five games in the T20 World Cup, despite chief selector Chetan Sharma’s assertion in the lead-up to the event that he was fit enough to bowl in all games.
Since then, the selectors seem to have learned their lesson. In February, while picking the squad for the series against Sri
Lanka, Sharma made it clear that Pandya will not be picked for the national team again until he proves that he can bowl at full tilt.
Bowling will be crucial
We will know only when IPL begins whether Pandya’s bowling is up to speed or not. But for now, Pandya is sending out all the right messages. “I’ve always been someone who has given all three areas— batting, bowling and fielding – importance,” he said at his unveiling as Gujarat Titans’ captain last month.
“I’ve realised one thing that I as an all-rounder give a lot of different options to the team. I want to play as an allrounder, and I’ll always try to do that. If something does go wrong, my batting is always there. And you know, Hardik Pandya with bat and ball combined sounds better than just a batter.”
While his batting is unmistakably his stronger suit, it’s not been all smooth sailing on that front either. A glance at his IPL numbers reflects that 2021 was his second-worst season—his poorest returns were in 2016– with the bat since making his debut in 2015. In 12 matches, he registered 127 runs at an average of 14.11 and, worryingly, a strike rate of 113.39.
Not a smooth ride
Certainly not what you would want from your premier finisher. It made Mumbai’s decision far easier than it would have been had he continued producing the big hits towards the back-end of an innings. He didn’t bowl for Mumbai in IPL 2020 either but was doing more than enough to merit a place in the side as a batter alone. Pandya has a point to prove but will captaincy of Gujarat Titans spur him on or be an additional burden? Consider that he has captained at the senior level only once earlier – in a tour game against Australia in 2017. The lack of experience doesn’t seem to bother him. “I don’t think there is a manual to learn how to become a captain,” Pandya said. “But I’ve always been a guy who likes to take up responsibilities in whichever games I have played. I’ll make sure that all the boys who are with me play as a unit. My doors will be always open for them. So no preparation as such but I’m looking forward to it and mentally I have always been ready.”
For captaincy to run smoothly, Pandya will know that he has to justify his innate confidence and swagger – which is manifested in his funky hairstyles, inked body and love for bling jewellery – with runs and wickets.*