Ravindra Jadeja stepped down as Chennai Super Kings captain after a brief eight-match stay at the post. The team had won two games and were placed ninth on the table when the star India all-rounder asked ‘Thala’ MS Dhoni to start leading again. 

Former India coach Ravi Shastri said that CSK’s failure was not Jadeja’s fault. He believes that the 33-year-old looklike a “fish out of water” during his captaincy stint. 

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Since Dhoni has taken over, Chennai have won two off their three games. The defending champions’ loss came against Faf du Plessis’ Royal Challengers Bangalore. They are in a very fragile position on the table and one more loss could kill all their chances. 

Shastri further said that Dhoni should continue as CSK skipper, if he is fit, next year too. 

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“He [Jadeja] is not a natural captain. He hasn’t captained at any level. So, to give him the responsibility I thought was a little hard on Jadeja. People might want to judge Jaddu, but it’s not his fault. He hasn’t captained anywhere. He looked a fish out of water, totally out of place and he’s far better off playing as a player. Because he’s one of the best around in the business, when it comes to allrounders,” Shastri said on ESPNcricinfo’s T20 Time Out.

“So let him just focus on his cricket. That [decision to give him the captaincy] cost CSK a few games early on. If you see the form they’re in now, if they had this going early on, they’ll be right up there in the mix.”

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Jadeja has come up as one of India’s key all-rounders, especially in Tests, in the past few years. The 33-year-old is not only a consistent batter and a dangerous bowler, he throws himself around the field too. 

Shastri said that the Chennai Super Kings should take some time before naming their next leader. 

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“You have got to see where the player has come from, what levels of cricket has he played. Has he captained a side? Does he have the flair for captaincy? You have to look into these kinds of things before jumping to conclusions before deciding whether a player should captain in the future or not. Not just because he’s scoring runs, he’s the highest run scorer, you become captain. Which happens in India a lot. Not just at the state level but also at the national level too, where a player has just been put in because he’s getting runs. He might never have captained, might have had very little experience, but his name is in the mix,” Shastri said