‘Panic at CSK?’ – Bemusement follows after Jadeja suddenly hands back IPL captaincy to Dhoni

In a largely unexpected, mid-season IPL development, Ravindra Jadeja handed back Chennai Super Kings’ captaincy to MS Dhoni, just over a month after taking over the leadership baton from the wicketkeeper-batter ahead of the 2022 IPL.

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Dhoni, Chennai’s skipper in every season that hey’ve appeared in the IPL (2008-2015, 2018-2021), relinquished the captaincy for the 2022 tournament, handing over the reins to his deputy Jadeja. The defending champions haven’t had a great season so far, winning just two of their first eight games, and are currently languishing in ninth in the ten-team table, with a net run-rate of – 0.538.

The franchise announced that Jadeja had “decided to relinquish captaincy to focus and concentrate more on his game and has requested MS Dhoni to lead CSK.”

The statement added that MS Dhoni, who has retired from international cricket and now only features in IPL, “has accepted to lead CSK in the larger interest and to allow Jadeja to focus on his game”.

Under Dhoni, CSK have won the IPL four times; they are the current reigning champions.

Following the announcement, there were plenty of reactions on social media: while some were puzzled at the sudden change of leadership, others said that the switch hardly mattered, given that Chennai are nearly out of playoffs contention already.

#Dhoni back as captain! Panic in CSK?

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 30, 2022

What is #CSK doing? Jadeja gone, Dhoni back as captain 🤔
No planning, just drama!

— Sushant Mehta (@SushantNMehta) April 30, 2022

Whoa!!!! Didn’t see that coming…#jadeja #dhoni #CricketTwitter #IPL20222 #csk

— parthiv patel (@parthiv9) April 30, 2022

Interesting. But inevitable. Jadeja hands captaincy back to MSD.

— Gautam Bhimani (@gbhimani) April 30, 2022

This is such an interesting tournament. On and off the field 🏏

Back to the finisher…#CSK𓃬 #IPL #Dhoni #Jadeja https://t.co/CZXyEatj6e

— Maya Sharma (@MsMayaSharma) April 30, 2022

Brave call from Jadeja. If he doesn't feel he can lead the side, why prolong the misery. And CSK fans will dream and hope again, no matter how impossible it seems.

— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) April 30, 2022

Jadeja giving back captaincy to Dhoni – NO ONE CARES! Living in the past #CSK

— Sushant Mehta (@SushantNMehta) April 30, 2022

The return of Dhoni as captain might cheer fans but it is Jadeja who is the more critical person here. If he found it a burden and if it releases him, this might be good news. But I hope he doesn't feel a sense of failure because that could affect him for a while.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 30, 2022

King Midas returns to the helm at CSK. Next: Six wins in next six games for CSK. A backdoor entry into the playoffs. A scrappy win in the eliminator. A dominating win in qualifier 2. And a last-ball finish from Dhoni in the final.

— Sreshth Shah (@sreshthx) April 30, 2022