“Jadeja looked a bit nervous” – Mohammad Kaif on CSK all-rounder’s captaincy debut in IPL 2022

Former Indian batter Mohammad Kaif felt Ravindra Jadeja looked a little nervous in his first match as captain of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL 2022 clash against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He, however, asserted that the all-rounder will learn from experience and improve.

Jadeja's captaincy stint for the Chennai franchise began on a disappointing note as they went down to KKR by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. They were restricted to 131 for 5 after being sent into bat, a target KKR chased with ease.

Reflecting on the all-rounder's performance in his first match as CSK captain, Kaif said on the show SK Straight Talk:

“Jadeja is an in-form batter, who has been consistently doing well for India and got a chance to captain (CSK). Jadeja looked a bit nervous. Maybe there was a bit of pressure of captaincy on him. He couldn’t bat freely, he came in to bowl late. He seemed a bit conservative. But, it was his first match, he will learn.”

The left-handed batter struggled his way to 26 off 28 balls with only one six, which came off the last ball of the innings. With his left-arm spin, he conceded only 25 runs in his four overs but failed to pick up a wicket.

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“Jadeja erred in giving Chahar’s role to Desphande” – Mohammad Kaif

Analyzing areas where Chennai got it wrong on Saturday, Kaif pointed out that the captain made a mistake by asking Tushar Deshpande to open the bowling in Deepak Chahar’s absence.

He also stated that CSK did not put up enough on the board. The 41-year-old elaborated:

“Jadeja erred in giving Deepak Chahar’s role to pacer Tushar Desphande. That was a mistake. Also, their main players didn’t score runs. (Robin) Uthappa looked good but got stumped. 131 is all they managed. Wankhede is a high scoring venue, so I was surprised that they scored only so much. The pitch was a bit tacky and the ball was stopping a bit."

Despite a disappointing start to their IPL 2022 campaign, Kaif is confident of Chennai lifting themselves. Terming them a championship side, he said:

“Chennai have a lot of experience in the batting. Dhoni is coming in to bat at No. 7. He scored a fine fifty and batted really well. Also, it was the first match. They have some new players, so they are trying to find the right combination.”

Chennai’s next IPL 2022 match will be against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on March 31.