"When I haven't made the team, why would I take all the blame?" - Aakash Chopra believes Ravindra Jadeja shouldn't be blamed for CSK's debacle in IPL 2022
Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra believes it is unfair to make Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja a scapegoat for his team's struggles in IPL 2022. The Men in Yellow have won just three out of 10 games so far and are almost out of the race to the playoffs.
While many pointed fingers at Jadeja's captaincy for Chennai's failures, Aakash Chopra feels the four-time IPL champions messed up their team combination at the IPL 2022 mega auction.
Although Jadeja wasn't impressive as captain of Chennai, the 44-year-old reckons that the management should have known about his inexperience leading such a side.
Speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Chopra explained why Ravindra Jadeja, the captain, shouldn't be blamed for Chennai's campaign, saying:
"I won't blame Jadeja for CSK'S troubles because this is not his team. When I haven't made the team, why would I take all the blame? Jaddu the captain was always going to be a question mark as he doesn't have experience of captaincy at any level. On top of it, you made a 'reunion' team."
Aakash Chopra also feels that Deepak Chahar's unavailability has hurt CSK dearly. But the 44-year-old expected better from Jadeja as far as his batting and bowling are concerned. On this, he said:
"Deepak Chahar also got injured and they couldn't find a quality replacement. The one thing that Jadeja is responsible for is his form. But apart from that, I don't think we should blame him. When you make a strong team, only then the team does well. Even Dhoni won one and lost one, isn't it?"
Jadeja's SR of 118.4 is his lowest since the 2016 season. And his avg of 19.3 is his lowest since the 2018 season (only played 74 balls that season though).
His form with the bat is really concerning for CSK as well as India.
God only knows who will be CSK's next captain: Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra opined that Chennai have dug a hole for themselves as far as the future captaincy is concerned. Although MS Dhoni has been a fantastic captain for them, the 40-year-old is approaching the end of his career.
Really worried about CSK's future after Dhoni's retirement
Finding a new captain and a reliable middle order batsman will be the biggest challenge
Bowling looks okayish when Deepak and Milne will return
With Jadeja having already failed as a captain, Chopra doesn't see too many options for CSK from their current squad, saying:
"God only knows! (On who should be CSK's next captain.) They are stuck now. When they made Jadeja the captain, they would have thought that maybe he would lead them in the future. But you let go of Faf and you won't be making Moeen Ali or Ruturaj Gaikwad as captain. So if next year Dhoni decides not to play anymore, they will have to shop for a captain."
Chennai still have a mathematical chance of miraculously qualifying for the playoffs. They will look to win all their remaining games and hope for the best.