MS Dhoni made a good return as Chennai Super Kings’ skipper by winning their clash against Sunsrisers Hyderabad. After winning the Sunday summit, Dhoni stated that the pressure of leading a side had taken a toll on Ravindra Jadeja. The legendary captain revealed that Jadeja somewhere knew that the responsibility was coming hard on him.
On Saturday, Jadeja handed over the captaincy duties to MS Dhoni after a string of poor results. The all-rounder led the defending champions to just two wins out of eight games. Jadeja’s form with the bat and ball has been poor, affecting the Super Kings’ chances.
Captain cool MS Dhoni opined that the captaincy role had burdened Jadeja’s preparation and hampered his performances. The 40-year-old believes that the captain has to ensure his form is not in the doldrums. The wicket-keeper batter admitted that the plan had always been for Jadeja to take over as captain this season and Dhoni had lent his support for a while. Dhoni revealed that he did not want to actively interfere with Jadeja’s decisions.
Dhoni said that the captaincy role has affected Jadeja’s mind as it demanded a lot and also the tasks grew for every game. CSK skipper admitted that he insisted the all-rounder take his own decisions and bear responsibility for them. Dhoni stated that spoon-feeding does not help the captain, on the field he has to make crucial decisions and also take responsibility for those decisions. A captain has to take care of many things and that also includes his own game.
MS Dhoni hopes that with Jadeja freed from the pressures of captaincy, it would reignite the all-rounder’s form, particularly on the field, where the CSK players have been sloppy, dropping several straightforward catches. CSK leads the list with 18-19 drop catches and that is a matter of concern. Dhoni admitted that hopefully he and his men will come back strong.
CSK skipper Dhoni credited his bowlers, particularly the spinners, who applied the brakes on Sunrisers’ batters during their chase of 203. It is important to try something different as a bowler.
As a bowler, you may get hit for fours and sixes in an over, but the two balls that you save would be the deliveries that will help you to secure a win in a high-scoring game. Chennai Super Kings will take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore in their next game on May 4 at the MCA Stadium, Pune.
