Franchise confirms that Dhoni will continue to represent them “this season and beyond”
The franchise confirmed the news on their website, adding that “Dhoni will continue to represent Chennai Super Kings this season and beyond”.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanathan said that Dhoni wanted the leadership “transition” to be smooth and felt Jadeja was ready to take up the mantle for the team, which won its fourth IPL title last year. Viswanathan said that Dhoni had announced the decision on Thursday at the team meeting before the squad left for training – the defending champions will play the tournament opener against Kolkata Knight Riders on March 26 at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
“MS Dhoni was thinking about it,” Viswanathan said. “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.”
Viswanathan said that while Dhoni did not personally tell him before, the decision has not come as a surprise as the franchise already had a discussion on the topic even before the 2021 IPL and alerted Jadeja at the time. “He [Jadeja] has been talked to earlier. Even last year there was proposal. We knew he would be the best person to succeed MS.”
Viswanathan reckoned that Dhoni was waiting for the opportune time, just as he had handled a similar situation when he stepped down as Indian captain. “It is similar to when he handed Virat the captaincy after having groomed him for a few years at international level. Similarly he wanted the transition to be smooth.”
Viswanathan also said that the franchise had immense confidence in Jadeja’s leadership. “Jaddu has the potential to do well for the franchise,” he said. ” [He is a] good all-round cricketer, playing his best, he can get the team around. And MS’ guidance will always be there. This will be a good induction program.”
More to follow…
Nagraj Gollapudi is news editor at ESPNcricinfo