“Everyone thought MS Dhoni would be leading” - Aakash Chopra analyzes impact of unexpected captaincy change on CSK’s IPL 2022 campaign 

Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra reckons Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) decision to announce a change in leadership just two days before the start of IPL 2022 adversely impacted their season.

Admitting that Ravindra Jadeja would have been informed in advance about the decision, Chopra added that the manner in which the news was made public had a shock factor, which perhaps unsettled the players.

Ahead of IPL 2022, an official CSK release confirmed that MS Dhoni had decided to hand over the captaincy of the franchise to Jadeja. In an anti-climatic twist, the veteran keeper-batter was back as captain as Jadeja quit the post after eight matches, in which Chennai could only register two wins.

CSK ended the season with four wins in 14 matches, finishing ninth in the IPL 2022 points table. Reviewing the performance of the franchise in the edition, Chopra opined on his YouTube channel:

“One of the biggest problems (for Chennai) was announcing a change in captaincy just two days before the start of the tournament. Everyone on the outside thought MS Dhoni would be leading. I am sure there must have been a discussion in the camp before, but this last-moment change of leadership is slightly different. Secondly, Ravindra Jadeja the captain just couldn’t get going.”

After giving up the captaincy, Jadeja also quit the bio-bubble before Chennai finished playing their league games, having picked up an injury. He ended the season with 116 runs and five wickets from 10 matches.

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“CSK seemed unclear about the opening combination” - Aakash Chopra

According to Chopra, Chennai were also indecisive when it came to the crucial opening combination and the lack of clarity came back to bite them. The 44-year-old explained:

“CSK seemed unclear about the opening combination. Devon Conway was tried at the start but was dropped immediately. By the time he was brought back into the playing XI, it was too late. Ruturaj Gaikwad ended up as CSK’s highest run-getter but that wasn’t enough as he did not score runs in the earlier games, which they had to win.”

Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 368 runs in 14 matches at an average of 26.29 and a strike rate of 126.46. Most of his runs came in the second half when Chennai’s fate in IPL 2022 was all but sealed.

Devon Conway was dropped after just one failure. He scored three consecutive fifties on his return to the playing XI after a lengthy gap.