3 reasons why MS Dhoni handed over CSK captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has announced that Ravindra Jadeja will lead the team in IPL 2022. The announcement came on Thursday afternoon when the franchise confirmed about it on their website. With this, Jadeja will be the third captain to lead CSK after Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina.

? Just in: MS Dhoni, who has led @ChennaiIPL since the first season of the IPL, announced his decision to step down as captainRavindra Jadeja will lead the team in #IPL2022 ? pic.twitter.com/tvxmooYOZe

— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) March 24, 2022

In the 13 years of IPL, Dhoni led the team four times to victory. Ravindra Jadeja joined CSK in 2012, after playing for Rajasthan Royals and Kochi Tuskers. The 33 year old All Rounder from Saurashtra has been one of the best performers of IPL. CSK was able to retain Jadeja at a whooping price of 16 crores, which is more than what they paid to retain Dhoni (12 crores).

But the question is- why did Dhoni hand over reins to Jadeja just two days ahead of the tournament?

Here are the answers:

1. DHONI LIKELY TO RETIRE THIS YEAR

This might be the last IPL for Dhoni as the 39 year-old has previously hinted of taking off his pads for the final time in Chennai. In such a scenario, the team had to pick a captain as Suresh Raina who previously led the team in few matches is also not with the franchise anymore.

Jadeja fulfilled the requirements of becoming the captain, as he was associated with the team for a long time.

2. A CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP

CSK’s CEO Kasi Viswanathan spoke to ESPNcricinfo and said that the decision was taken by Dhoni himself. Dhoni wanted the leadership transition to be smooth and easy for Jadeja. The decision, though surprising, was in the reckoning as Dhoni planned a change in capitancy for a while.

3. JADEJA THE FINISHER

The left handed batter and left arm spin bowler is one of the best finishers in cricket as of today. He is an asset to CSK, as he has won the team many matches. His quick agility on the field has also saved crucial runs for the team.

In all, Jadeja is the perfect finisher for CSK. In 2021, Jadeja played 16 matches and scored 227 runs at a spectacular average of 75.66.

Since Jadeja is at the peak of his career, Dhoni thought it was the best time to handover the captaincy of the team to him.