For 14 years, the word 'captain' at Chennai Super Kings was synonymous with only one name – Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The former India skipper, who led CSK to four Indian Premier League titles and and five runners-up finishes, stepped down today and handed over the mantle to his trusted lieutenant Ravindra Jadeja.
CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan said it was Dhoni's own decision and one should respect it. The 40-year-old will, however, continue to represent the franchise for the "season and beyond", as he had done since the tournament's inception in 2008 - barring the two seasons when CSK was suspended in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal.
Dhoni's captaincy was based on two basic traits - common sense and instinct. The common sense was about never making games of T20 cricket too complicated, while setting a template and consistent set-up in order.
The instinct part came with a clear idea of which player can perform specific roles and what is it that he is looking in them. Dhoni understood that Deepak Chahar can get wickets in Powerplay and Shardul Thakur is a utility man. He understood Moeen Ali could hit sixes on slowish tracks and the fast off-breaks at times will be helpful.
He never relied on analytics, long and winding team meetings. Instead, he relied on tried and tested international players and customised a few homegrown himself. If CSK was madness, Dhoni was its method.
Why quit two days before CSK's first match this season?
Had Dhoni wanted to continue, he would have done that this year too. CSK management (read Srinivasan) would have happily let Dhoni lead the 'Canary Yellows' for the 191st time in the league and not be concerned about his batting form, which has been on the wane for at least six years now.
Months shy of his 41st birthday, maybe he has realised that it is not possible to play IPL to IPL with nothing in between the 14-16 high intensity T20 games annually.
His routine during the 2020 and 2021 IPL is to arrive in Chennai (this time it was Surat) at least six weeks prior to the commencement of IPL and do hard intense training with nets and fitness.
He must have realised that he might just not be in peak physical condition to play all games this time and hence the grooming part needs to start now.
The logic is simple, if Dhoni isn't playing all games, it is better they choose a different leader.
Why choose Jadeja as the skipper?
The natural progression of leadership would have featured Suresh Raina. If Dhoni was the CSK fans' 'Thala', Raina was lovingly called 'chinna Thala'. Raina had even announced his retirement from international cricket the same day Dhoni, too, retired – August 15, 2020. Interestingly, Raina had said last year that if Dhoni did not play in IPL this year, he, too, won't play. Ironically, the former would not be part of CSK, or any other IPL team this year, after losing form completely and, consequently, being ignored in the IPL auction earlier this year.
That Dhoni and the franchise value results over emotions, has also been evident from their selection of players over the years. The most severe criticism against the franchise has been how it has neglected Tamil Nadu players. Whether it's Dwayne Bravo or Faf du Plessis, or Josh Hazlewood or the likes of Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Jadeja or Ruturaj Gaikwad, they were picked based on specific roles that they could perform year after year.
There were speculations that Gaikwad will be groomed for the skipper's role in the future, having captained Maharashtra in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Tournament and Vijay Hazare Trophy. But CSK's (rather, Dhoni's) penchant for the tried and tested, be it players or processes, seems to have resulted in Jadeja being entrusted with the role, with Dhoni still an active player.
The 114 runs that Jadeja scored in 16 IPL games for CSK last season was yet another reminder of how integral he is to the CSK side. He has been one of India's standout performers across formats in the past two years. The fifth and final Test against England at The Oval in 2018 was the turning point – he scored an unbeaten 86 and picked up three wickets. He has been in the form of his life ever since and has been reading the game and assessing the match situations much better now.
But, is he ready for captaincy? Jadeja has not even captained Saurashtra at the Ranji level. Nor has he served as the vice-captain at the senior level. Understanding your role in a team and performing to the best of your abilities is one thing, and defining roles for others and managing senior and junior players and taking decisions on and off the field, completely another.
With no other clear candidates in sight, Dhoni, it seems, will be helping Jadeja ease into the skipper's role. Dhoni may have left 'captaincy' but not the 'leadership' role. Even with Jadeja at the helm, the steering will probably still be in Dhoni's hands. In a franchise with a larger-than-life figure like Dhoni, it will be difficult for Jadeja to stamp his authority on the team, and carve out an identity for himself as the skipper. Whether it proves to be a bane or a boon for CSK, will be known only at the end of this IPL season.
(With PTI inputs)
