BENGALURU: Mahendra Singh Dhoni handed over the captaincy of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja on Thursday. He will continue to represent CSK as a player under Jadeja’s leadership.
His decision comes two days ahead of the start of the IPL 2022 season. He has already retired from international cricket.
“MS Dhoni has decided to hand over the leadership of Chennai Super Kings and picked Ravindra Jadeja to lead the team,” CSK said in an official statement.
Jadeja has been a part of the CSK since 2012 and played a significant role in the franchise’s stupendous success over the years. He has scored 1324 runs and picked up 90 wickets for CSK across eight seasons.
The all-rounder was retained by the franchised for Rs 16 crore. He will only be the third player to lead CSK. Apart from one Champions League match, in which Raina was the captain, Dhoni has captained CSK in all other matches as yet.
Overall, Dhoni led CSK in 204 matches and won 121. Under his captaincy, the franchise won the IPL championship 4 times. He also led CSK to 2 Champions League titles.
“MS Dhoni was thinking about it. He felt it is the right time to hand over captaincy to Jaddu [Jadeja]. He feels Jaddu is also in prime form of his career and it is the ideal time for him lead CSK. What will be good for the franchise must be [in the] back of his mind,” CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan told a cricket website.
CSK will play their first match in the IPL 2022 against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.