Mumbai, April 1: Former India cricketers Ajay Jadeja and Parthiv Patel criticised former Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for controlling the game while Ravindra Jadeja remains the skipper on paper. Dhoni was seen marshalling the team on the pitch during the league match between CSK and Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at Brabourne Stadium on Thursday (March 31).
Despite posting a humongous 210 for 7 after being invited to bat first, the Super Kings lost the match by six wickets as the Super Giants chased down the target with three balls to spare and stunned the defending champions.
While the experts were shocked to see Dhoni calling the shots on the field and not Jadeja - who was appointed the captain of the franchise ahead of the season. The TV cameras caught Jadeja fielding in the deep for the most part of the game and hardly interacting with the bowlers and fielders while Dhoni was actively seen passing the message to the bowlers. The sight of Dhoni acting as a captain during a league match that too in the early stages of the tournament wasn't liked by Ajay Jadeja and Parthiv Patel.
Speaking on Cricbuzz live show, the former India batter, Jadeja, said, "It is wrong, there is no doubt about that. Look I am one of the biggest fans of Dhoni and that's because of his temperament. If this was the last match of the group where there was a do-or-die situation in terms of qualification, then I could've probably understood that you would want to take over the reins because it is an important phase. But if it happens only in the second match of the season it doesn't look good."
'कप्तान #Jadeja के होते हुए #Dhoni का मैच पर नियंत्रण, नहीं हैं अच्छे संकेत'
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) April 1, 2022
Dhoni के कप्तानी निर्णय लेने पर Ajay Jadeja और @parthiv9 का राय, #CricbuzzLive हिन्दी पर।#IPL2022 #LSGvCSK #CricketTwitter@kreditbee pic.twitter.com/VLsDFw1bLx
Voicing his opinion further, Jadeja said, "I'm not saying this because it's Ravindra Jadeja. But even as a cricket fan, it looked a little odd. He (Jadeja) was standing right there and you continued to run the whole game. Dhoni is a very big player and I don't like saying it out loud. But I didn't like what I saw today."
"There hasn't been a captain like Dhoni nor there will be. But it was his decision to step down as CSK captain and today, instead of pushing him (Jadeja) forward, you have actually dragged him back. His confidence is dented. He wasn't in the game at all," the cricketer-turned commentator explained further.
"I'm not criticising the decisions. I'm being critical of the way he (Dhoni) took over. We noticed Dhoni speaking during the team meeting. There's no doubt Dhoni understands the game better and even CSK fans would be urging him to take over the captaincy again. But I have no doubt that he was wrong in taking over today. If Jadeja was even beginning to feel confident about his captaincy, he won't now," added the former Saurashtra cricketer.
Parthiv Patel, who is also a part of the experts' panel on the show, felt the same and said that if (Ravi) Jadeja has been appointed CSK's captain, he should be given a free hand, even if he makes mistakes because he will learn from his mistakes.
"If you have to develop someone you have to leave them. He will only become a captain if he is allowed to lead. He will learn only when he makes mistakes," Patel opined.
'Jadeja's growth as skipper under Dhoni will be difficult' 🗣@joybhattacharj & @Sdoull discuss the #Dhoni-#Jadeja equation on #CricbuzzLive#IPL2022 #LSGvCSK #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/oli7GNL2yC
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) April 1, 2022
Cricbuzz Live English experts' panel comprising Simon Doull and Joy Bhattarcharjya while dissecting CSK's game against LSG opined that Dhoni and Jadeja weren't on the same page and that the latter's growth as captain under MSD's wings will be difficult.