‘Captaincy affected his mind’

MS Dhoni feels leading Chennai Super Kings burdened Ravindra Jadeja and affected his performances; hopes all-rounder can deliver now without pressure after his side’s 13-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday

Someone losing the captaincy, or being removed from it midway through an IPL season, usually, is not a surprise anymore. 

It has happened in the past, and would probably happen in the future too. However, there was still an element of surprise when  Chennai Super Kings announced that Ravindra Jadeja had decided to relinquish the  captaincy eight games into the new season, and had requested MS Dhoni to take over once again.

Demands of a captain

Dhoni, who led CSK for the first time in IPL 2022 in the team’s 13-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MCA Stadium here on Sunday, explained the reasons behind the move while speaking to the official broadcaster. “I think Jadeja knew last season that he would be captaining this year,” Dhoni said. 

“For the first two games, I simply oversaw his work and let him be. After that, I insisted he take his own decisions and bear 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 added.

Now freed from the burden of captaincy, Dhoni hoped that it would improve Jadeja’s performance in the remaining games of the season. “Even if you relieve the captaincy, and if you are at your best and that’s what we want. We were also losing a great fielder, we are struggling for a deep midwicket fielder; we have dropped 17-18 catches and that’s a matter of concern,” Dhoni said.

Speaking about the Sunday’s game, Dhoni said it was the spin bowlers in the middle overs that made the difference in the end. 

Spin does the trick

“The phase that really worked for us was when the spinners were bowling after six overs,” the CSK captain added. 

Maheesh Theekshana, with a spell of 0-26 from four overs, and Ravindra Jadeja’s three overs that cost just 15 runs, put the SRH batsmen under a lot of pressure.

Importance of dot balls

Dhoni also brought up an interesting theory, pointing out the importance of dot balls even in an expensive over.

“It’s important to try something different as a bowler. I always told my bowlers, you may get hit for four sixes in an over, but the two balls that you save—ultimately in a high-scoring game—those are the two deliveries that will help you win the game. A lot of bowlers, after getting hit for three or four sixes, they will be like let’s get done with it, but that one boundary or even instead of sixes if you get hit for two fours, that will help you in a game. I don’t know if they believe in that theory, but it really works,” Dhoni added.

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