MS Dhoni hands over CSK captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja

MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja in action for CSK

MS Dhoni, who has been the CSK captain since the inception of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008, handed over the team’s captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja on Thursday. The decision comes two days ahead of the start of the IPL 2022 season.

Releasing a statement, the CSK said that Dhoni will continue to represent Chennai Super Kings this season and beyond. “MS Dhoni has decided to hand over the leadership of Chennai Super Kings and picked Ravindra Jadeja to lead the team. Jadeja, who has been an integral part of Chennai Super Kings since 2012, will only be the third player to lead CSK. Dhoni will continue to represent Chennai Super Kings this season and beyond,” the CSK statement read.

Dhoni, who led the team to victory four times, could be playing his last IPL this season. Dhoni, 40, has already retired from international cricket.

The defending champions CSK will open their campaign against last edition’s runner-up side Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.

The last time Jadeja captained a cricket side was on October 28, 2007,  when he led Saurashtra Under-19 against Mumbai Under-19 in the Vinoo Mankad tournament at the Western Railway Ground in Rajkot.

Meanwhile, Jadeja reclaimed the top spot from West Indies’ Jason Holder in the latest ICC Test rankings for all-rounders released on Wednesday. Jadeja had risen to No. 1 after his 175 not out and nine wickets in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali earlier this month.

CSK Squad: MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja (Captain), Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayadu, Dwayne Bravo, Robin Uthappa, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitch Santner, Adam Milne, Subhranshu Senapati, Prashant Solanki, Mukesh Choudhary, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, Bhagath Varma.

Source: The Indian Express