As the Chennai Super Kings’ clash against the Lucknow Super Giants intensified, the cameras and a million eyeballs panned towards MS Dhoni. Dhoni, of course, isn’t captain anymore. But it still felt as if CSK was his, and not Ravindra Jadeja’s team.

Two days before the 2022 edition began, Dhoni sent shockwaves throughout the cricketing world by stepping down from the CSK captaincy, making this the first time he would play as a non-captain in the IPL for CSK. As much as it was a surprise, it felt warranted. Dhoni isn’t going to be around forever, and Jadeja, who was handed the reins, has been in a rich vein of form lately.

In two matches, however, Jadeja has realised first-hand how tough this gig is. While losing matches is part and parcel of a competitive league such as the IPL – even a captain as accomplished as Dhoni would lose roughly two out of every five games – the manner of the defeats has caused alarm. Not because Jadeja’s decision-making has not been up to scratch, but because there has been no clarity in who is making the decisions in the first place; he has seemed a captain with little control over the proceedings taking place.

Over the years, CSK and Dhoni have become synonymous with each other, and anyone who has watched them play even once would testify that the latter is always the man in charge. That was alright when he was the skipper and the one calling the shots. But with Jadeja at the helm, it seems a little counter-productive, considering his lack of captaincy experience, and the simple fact that he can’t override the former skipper if it comes to that.

Prior to the tournament, many felt it would be a symbiotic relationship, wherein the all-rounder would approach Dhoni for tactical advice intermittently. And the wicketkeeper would answer all his prayers. In both games, however, it has seemed as if Dhoni has been making all the decisions with Jadeja only being consulted, at best.

In an ideal world, suggestions from someone of Dhoni’s stature wouldn’t be out of place. Yet, when taking into account this is Jadeja’s first captaincy assignment (since his U-19 Saurashtra days), it seems a little overbearing. It might also be ridding Jadeja of the requisite confidence to ingrain his own philosophy into the side.

CSK’s struggles so far

Against Kolkata Knight Riders, CSK didn’t have many runs on the board. They struggled in their bowling powerplay too, and Jadeja looked short of ideas. Dhoni coujld be seen adjusting the field and asking the bowlers to change their angles, leading to a couple of false strokes from Ajinkya Rahane and Nitish Rana, but not changing the course of the game.

A few days later, CSK’s decision making came under even greater scrutiny. For large swathes of LSG’s run chase, the all-rounder manned the longest boundary at the Brabourne Stadium. It was, to an extent, understandable because he is one of the best fielders on the planet. But it also meant he could have limited influence as captain. Dwayne Bravo and Dhoni were seen discussing plans, looking for wicket-taking options and were even altering the fields. While they would have had CSK’s best interests at heart, it almost gave out the signal that Jadeja was already being frozen out – that too in his second match as skipper.

This debate isn’t about how CSK got their calculations wrong and who cost them the game. Instead, it is about what the franchise wants to achieve moving forward. Not just because the likes of Bravo and Dhoni are in the twilight of their career, but also because of what happened even before a ball in IPL 2022 had been bowled.

Jadeja couldn’t have hoped for a better IPL team to start off as captain

From that perspective, Jadeja should count himself lucky that his first IPL captaincy gig has come at CSK – a franchise that refuses to indulge in knee-jerk reactions. They also back their players to the hilt (having done so with Jadeja as well) and ensure that they have the right environment to succeed. But if Jadeja keeps putting his captaincy duties on auto-pilot, or if he keeps delegating to Bravo and Dhoni, or if he is asked to stay away and let the experienced heads take over, something will break eventually.

There has also been an apprehension from Jadeja’s end to impose his ideas. Against LSG, CSK needed a solitary over from their spinners to ease the burden in the final two overs. The all-rounder could’ve taken that responsibility and put the game to bed. But he didn’t. It was almost as if he felt he wasn’t good enough to ask for that responsibility, despite being the captain. This is at odds to how he has played his cricket lately and eerily similar to the pattern he displayed at the start of his career. Back then, he was unsure of his abilities and wasn’t willing to grab games by the scruff of their necks. Now, he is in a position to do so – both as a player and more importantly, as a captain.

On pedigree, there isn’t a better-placed cricketer than Jadeja to take over from Dhoni. The former, much like the wicketkeeper, breathes CSK and knows the franchise inside out. So far, though, it has seemed that CSK haven’t really made him captain, despite the official notifications suggesting so.

Quite often, CSK have not had the best team on paper, and have been written off by experts. Dhoni, however, has taught them to always believe. Thus, it only seems fair that when Jadeja is venturing into relative unchartered territory, Dhoni and the rest of the team start trusting him to make the right calls.

Nobody becomes a captain overnight and it would be naïve to indicate that Jadeja should be the finished captaincy article straightway. But unless he takes those decisions, he will never learn the ropes of captaincy. And, more damningly, he might never understand what decisions need to be taken at what junctures.

For years, Dhoni has been CSK and CSK have been Dhoni. And, nothing will change that – even decades later. At this stage, though, this is Ravindra Jadeja’s CSK. It should be moulded to his liking and the team should play the brand of cricket he wants them to. Dhoni should be a fail-safe and a sounding board, who will guide the all-rounder only when he hits a rocky patch.

All that, however, will happen once Jadeja starts believing this is his team. In the flickering glimpses we have witnessed thus far, it hasn’t been that way. And it shouldn’t be that way either.

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