CSK captaincy was affecting Jadeja’s game: MS Dhoni

TIL Desk Sports/ Mahendra Singh Dhoni believes the pressure and demand of captaincy took a toll on Ravindra Jadeja and affected the all-rounder’s mind, resulting in his below-par showing for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2022.

Jadeja was anointed as CSK skipper for IPL after Dhoni decided to step aside two days before the start of the T20 league, but the all-rounder failed to cope with the pressure and eventually gave up the job, forcing the franchise to fall back on their most trusted lieutenant.

Back at the helm of affairs, Dhoni made an immediate impact as CSK notched up a 13-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad to keep themselves slim hopes alive of making it to the play-offs. “I think Jadeja knew last season he would be captaining this year. For the first two games, I oversaw his work and let him be. After that, I insisted he take his own decisions and responsibility for them.

“Once you become captain, it means a lot of demands come in. But it affected his mind as the tasks grew. I think captaincy burdened his prep and performances,” Dhoni said after the match against SRH.