Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made heads turn on Thursday as the franchise announced that MS Dhoni would not be leading the side in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 and instead, it would be Ravindra Jadeja who would don the captaincy hat. CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan on Thursday spoke to NDTV and he said that Dhoni always takes the best interests of the franchise in mind before making any decision. The CEO also stated how Jadeja will have a guiding force in the form of Dhoni and it will work as a good combination.
"See, it is a decision which he has taken looking at the best interest of CSK. Whatever MS Dhoni does, he takes CSK's best interests into account. We are happy with whatever decision he takes. He is handing the captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja, Dhoni will be playing with the team so the bonding will be there," Kasi Viswanathan told NDTV.
Talking about Jadeja being made the captain of CSK, the franchise CEO stated: "See, Ravindra Jadeja is probably the best all-rounder right now. He has been with the team and he knows the team culture. He is capable of handling, with Dhoni being there, Jadeja will always have a guiding force behind him. I think it will be a good combination."
Dhoni has led CSK to 4 titles in his 12 seasons as captain. Under Dhoni, CSK established themselves as the most consistent franchise in the league.
Dhoni led CSK 204 times in the IPL, winning 121 games and losing 82. His win percentage was 59.6 in the cash-rich league. Under his tenure, CSK won 4 IPL titles and 2 Champions League T20 titles.
The IPL 2022 will begin on March 26 and CSK will square off against Kolkata Knight Riders in the tournament opener.
CSK Squad: MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo, Robin Uthappa, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Subhranshu Senapati, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, K Bhagath Varma.