IPL 2022: Captain MS Dhoni back with bang; will CSK make a turn around?

MS Dhoni made his return as captain in IPL with a win on Sunday. He wanted to focus on batting so he had handed over the captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja. But the all-rounder failed to soak up the pressure. With little option left in their ranks, CSK opted for the safer option of Dhoni to make a turn around in IPL 2022.

Jadeja could win only two matches in eight matches. It is still not known what prompted Jadeja to give up captaincy just in his first season in IPL, but after watching Sunday’s blockbuster game in Pune, it is clear to that Dhoni is both amalgamation of skills and luck as is the case with many other captains.

By the time Jadeja came to captian CSK, he accumulated vast experience of playing international cricket. He played a major part of his career under Dhoni’s captaincy. As a cricketer, he loves taking responsibilities of breaking partnerships, taking difficult catches and hammering the bowlers down the batting order.

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But in international cricket, leading a side and taking responsibility for a role is different thing. Jadeja was appointed CSK captain with almost little prior experience.

Even when he became captain, he could not make independent decisions. Jadeja had do consult Dhoni when it comes to taking decisions in difficult situations.

Dhoni, on there other hand, at the twilight of his cricketing journey, is still CSK’s go to man in the time of need. CSK are one of the very few franchises which are loyal to their cricketers.

Four-time IPL champions CSK are known to hire best of the old players who were overlooked by other franchises. This season, too, CSK built a team around its senior players who are just a year or two away from the retirement. They are Dhoni’s favourites.

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This season, with the IPL becoming a 10 teams event, the compactness of the CSK went away. Even with this , Dhoni can do wonder. He won the first match of the remaining six matches. CSK now need to avoid defeat to keep their playoffs hope alive.

Though Jadeja was the official captain and flicking the coin at toss, Dhoni was active in offering advice to Jadeja and other bowlers, as well as fine-tuning field placements from behind the stumps with Jadeja fielding far away from bowlers as he is an extraordinary fielder.

Now as Dhoni returned as CSK’s official captain for IPL 2022 with a 13-run win in a high-scoring match, there will be expectations on him to deliver the results winning the next five matches. But at this stage, expecting that would be too much as reaching the level of consistency does not come easily.