MS Dhoni discussed about stepping down as CSK captain last season: Stephen Fleming
It’s a start of a new era for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with MS Dhoni stepping down as skipper of the side. The major announcement was made just a couple of days before the start of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Dhoni has handed over the reins to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has been an integral part of the franchise since the 2012 season.
It must be noted that Dhoni had been CSK’s full-time skipper since the inception of IPL in 2008. Under him, the side qualified for 11 playoffs in the 12 seasons they participated. The yellow army made nine final appearances in this period and walked away with four titles. Hence, Jadeja has big boots to fill and it will be interesting to see how he fares in the new role.
MS Dhoni wanted to give Ravindra Jadeja the clean slate: Stephen Fleming
Meanwhile, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming has revealed that Dhoni had conversations with him regarding stepping down as captain during last season’s title-winning campaign. “We talked about it. It’s been something MS and I talked about during the last season,” Fleming said on Saturday (March 26) after Jadeja’s first game as CSK skipper.
“The timing was MS’s call. I think it’s been documented that he wanted to give Jadeja the clean slate going into the series so it was communicated with Mr. Srinivasan and conveyed to the team. We 100% respect that,” he added.
For the unversed, Fleming has been CSK’s head coach since the 2009 season and is well versed with the culture and atmosphere of the franchise. With Jadeja taking over the captaincy, the former New Zealand captain admitted there will be some changes but that can be worked out easily for his experienced squad.
“There’s going to be a bit of a transition period as we develop the relationship with Jadeja and also have MS there so you don’t just discard a player just because he doesn’t have the captaincy tag. You develop the new captain and work with the experience we’ve got, and thankfully we’ve got quite a bit of that. It’s a little bit of change, but we’ll work through that nicely,” Fleming added.
Meanwhile, Jadeja’s maiden assignment as CSK skipper wasn’t fruitful as KKR defeated them by six wickets in the season opener of IPL 2022. CSK now have a four-day break before they face KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants at the Brabourne Stadium on March 31.
