Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
The Chennai Super Kings got back to winning ways as they registered a resounding victory over the Sunrisers Hyderabad. CSK scored a massive 202 runs for the loss of just two wickets. Then in the second innings, the four-time champions had a decent bowling performance as they defended this mammoth total and won the game by 13 runs.
But the biggest news coming from the game was Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s return to captaincy. Before the 2022 IPL season, Ravindra Jadeja was handed the captaincy but after a string of losses, the franchise decided to go back to MSD. During the post-game interview, Dhoni opened up about the decision and the transition of these roles.
“I think captaincy burdened his prep and performances”
MS Dhoni said, “I think Jadeja knew last season he'd be captaining this year. For the first two games, I oversaw his work and let him be later. After that, I insisted he'd take his own decisions and 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.”
“He knew and got enough time to prepare, what is important is you want him to lead the side and I wanted that transition to happen. At the end of the season, you don't want him to feel as if the captaincy was done by someone else and I'm just going for the toss,” he continued.
“Spoon-feeding doesn't really help the captain”
The 40-year-old also talked about the impact of captaincy on Ravindra Jadeja as he was seen struggling on the field. Dhoni added, “So it was a gradual transition. Spoon-feeding doesn't really help the captain, on the field you have to take those crucial decisions and you have to take responsibility for those decisions. Once you become the captain, we have to take care of a lot many things and that also includes your own game.”
“Even if you relieve captainship 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 mid-wicket fielder, still, we have dropped 17-18 catches and that's a matter of concern,” he further said.