"Looked A Fish Out Of Water...": Ravi Shastri Underlines Reasons Behind Ravindra Jadeja's Captaincy Failure

Ravindra Jadeja had a forgettable outing as the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Under him, the defending champions lost six out of its first eight matches. That poor start led to MS Dhoni again taking over the four-time IPL winners' captaincy mantle. Since Dhoni took over, CSK have won two out of their last three games. However, a playoff spot looks tricky at this point of time.

Talking about Jadeja's captaincy failures, former Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri said that giving the captain's armband to Jadeja made it tough for the allrounder.

"He is not a natural captain. He hasn't captained at any level. So, to give him the responsibility I thought was a little hard on Jadeja," Shastri said on ESPNcricinfo's T20 Time Out.

"People might want to judge Jaddu, but it's not his fault. He hasn't captained anywhere. He looked a fish out of water, totally out of place and he's far better off playing as a player. Because he's one of the best around in the business, when it comes to allrounders.

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"So let him just focus on his cricket. That (decision to give him the captaincy) cost CSK a few games early on. If you see the form they're in now, if they had this going early on, they'll be right up there in the mix."

Regarding the options that CSK may go for as Dhoni's successor, Shastri said: "Who could be the options then? Just like Faf du Plessis for RCB," Shastri said, suggesting Super Kings wait till the auction if need be. "Within the mix, if you think Ruturaj has, or Moeen or even a local player, if there's someone who you think has that ability to lead a side, go for it."