MS Dhoni, CSK, and a solution to an irredeemable situation, surely not again?
It’s 2022. MS Dhoni is no longer the force he once was. He still walks into hopeless and seemingly irredeemable situations and dares thousands of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fans to dream that nothing is impossible. But it doesn’t happen quite as often as it did in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
Dhoni is, as much as anything, in the twilight of his career and seems to have acknowledged that even an immortal like him can’t win against time, irrespective of how deep he takes it.
So, when he handed over the captaincy reins to Ravindra Jadeja prior to IPL 2022, it felt that even CSK had braced themselves for the inevitable.
Jadeja, though, hasn’t quite taken to life as CSK skipper. Not only have the team’s fortunes nosedived after the crest of winning the entire thing in 2021, the all-rounder’s displays have dipped to such an extent that his pedigree is being questioned.
The situation then, is as follows: CSK need their all-rounder to be functioning at their best. They also require the team to maintain a certain standard of performance. Oh, and they have to do it all while ensuring that Jadeja isn’t thrown under the bus too early and is given the time to leave his imprint on this CSK side.
As you might have guessed by now, attaining all three objectives is pretty difficult, and Jadeja has found that out the hard way. CSK have lost six out of the eight matches they’ve played. The all-rounder has only picked up five wickets, and has struggled with the bat. His strike rate at the death, in particular, has plummeted.
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The biggest and most telling casualty has been Jadeja’s captaincy, which he relinquished on April 30, 2022, citing his inclination to concentrate on his personal form.
Prima facie, there isn’t anything wrong with it. Numerous captains over the years have stepped down from their post to ensure that someone better equipped leads the side.
It happened years ago (in 2012) at the Royal Challengers Bangalore when Daniel Vettori opted out and allowed Virat Kohli to assume captaincy duties. A little more recently, Dinesh Karthik was sacked mid-way as Kolkata Knight Riders captain with Eoin Morgan appointed in his stead. So, there is precedent.
The tricky bit, though, is that CSK have gone back to Dhoni – a cricketer who won’t be around forever and took the conscious call of making Jadeja the captain in the first place. All of that also happened prior to the season, hoping that the all-rounder would grow into his role and Dhoni would guide him whenever required.
There were suggestions that Jadeja would be empowered with the wicket-keeper still in the side and that he won’t feel the burden of captaincy. It was also perceived that he would continue playing the brand of cricket he has been renowned for – all while learning the ropes of captaincy and understanding what boxes he will need to tick when the day actually comes to lead a CSK side without Dhoni in it.
None of it has happened the way it was envisioned, however. And, here we are. Dhoni leading CSK again. CSK finding themselves in a hopeless situation, and a few hopeless romantics still longing for the veteran to weave his magic, one last time.
You don’t see happening this in CSK. #Jadeja #Dhoni #RPSwing
Is MS Dhoni taking over mid-way the right call?
From plenty of perspectives, this seems the wrong call. Common sense alone tells you this will leave a massive scar on Jadeja’s psyche. If Dhoni hangs up his boots before next season, the all-rounder will most likely be the incumbent. At that juncture, not only will he have to lead the team out of the wicket-keeper’s shadow, he will also have to forget all the mishaps that have happened in 2022.
CSK, too, aren’t a side that usually abandons its ship mid-way. Prior to this season, they had never entered a campaign without Dhoni at the helm. And when it was announced that he would no longer be skipper, it seemed the franchise had accepted that decision and were ready to accord Jadeja the longer rope his credentials deserved.
Eight relatively uninspiring games into the season, however, CSK have cracked. The official statement says that Jadeja has relinquished captaincy to focus and concentre more on his game, and has requested the former Indian captain to lead CSK.
But as long as there is a chance for speculation, there will be murmurs around who actually made that call and if Jadeja was pressured into giving up captaincy. Or worse, if Dhoni asked for Jadeja to step aside.
For the moment, though, that might not matter as much because, well, despite everything that has happened with CSK this season, the reinstating of Dhoni as skipper gives them hope – even if it might metaphorically resemble clinging onto the barest of threads.
The wicket-keeper has walked into hopeless and irredeemable situations before, and sprinkled his magic – even when it seemed impossible. It was, if you remember correctly, his forte for the better part of two decades. Dhoni has done it before, although he has never been in a situation where he has handed over captaincy only for it to boomerang back to him.
Moreover, with CSK stuttering and stumbling in almost every department, it seems as impossible as it has ever done. The wicket-keeper is not the force he once was too. CSK also need to win all of their remaining matches to stand any chance of qualification. And, Dhoni, despite the brazen displays of immortality over the years, is a mere mortal, after all. This is, for the lack of a better word, impossible. Right?
It's 2022. And still that answer remains elusive. Under all other metrics, the answer is pretty simple and straightforward. But Dhoni, even during the twilight of his career, is daring thousands of CSK fans to metamorphose into hopeless romantics.
It shouldn’t happen this way. The changing of the guard mid-season. The long-lasting impact it might have on Jadeja’s future captaincy gigs. But if this is indeed the final chapter in Dhoni’s inimitable legend, only he can make it worthwhile.