IPL 2022: Ravi Shastri feels former star better suited to captain Chennai Super Kings than Ravindra Jadeja

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Bengaluru, April 11: Ravindra Jadeja has endured a tough start to life as captain of Chennai Super Kings, and former India coach Ravi Shastri felt the all-rounder should not have been the one filling Mahendra Singh Dhoni's boots if this was an event waiting to happen.

Just two days before the season curtain-raiser, Dhoni, who had led CSK to four titles including the one in 2021, announced that he will step down from captaincy with Jadeja being chosen as his successor.

Two days later, CSK opened their title defense with a defeat to last season's runners up Kolkata Knight Riders and the four-time champions are yet to recover from that, losing the next three matches as well.

CSK has lost 4 in 4 so far this season with many questioning how will the defending champions bounce back now. CSK, who lost KKR in the opener, followed with defeats to new entrants Lucknow Super Giants, Punjab Kings and struggling Sunrisers Hyderabad.

And very recently Jadeja made a huge revelation hinting Dhoni had wished to quit captaincy a few months ago. Jadeja replied to a question about his captaincy in the post-match press conference following the defeat to Punjab Kings.

"Yeah, I have been preparing since he told me a few months ago. Mentally, I was prepared to lead. I don't have any pressure on me. I was just looking to back my instincts, I was thinking to go with whatever thoughts come into my mind."

As Dhoni had thought of stepping down from captaincy a few months ago, Shastri said CSK shouldn't have released Faf du Plessis before the mega auction as the South African would have done a good job as captain, allowing Jadeja to play more "freely".

"I believe, a player like Jadeja should focus on his cricket. If Chennai think about it again, they should have not let Faf du Plessis go because he is a match winner and played a lot," Shastri said on ESPNcricinfo show 'T20 Time Out'.

"If Dhoni didn't want to captain the side, then Faf should have become the captain and Jadeja should have played as a player. Because he (Jadeja) can then play freely, no pressure of captaincy. Things could have been different for Chennai."

Du Plessis, who spent eight seasons with CSK, was released ahead of the auction as the four-time champions kept Jadeja, Dhoni, Moeen Ali and Ruturaj Gaikwad as their retentions.

The South African was later picked up in the auction by Royal Challengers Bangalore, who named him as the skipper ahead of the season. He has so far won 3 of 4 matches as captain of RCB.

As for CSK, apart from Jadeja's role as skipper, most of the players also have not stepped up including last season's Orange Cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has managed to score an aggregate of 18 runs - 0, 1, 1 and 16.

The bowling also has been weak and that could be due to the unavailability of their most expensive player at the auction - Deepak Chahar, who has missed games due to injury.

Now, Jadeja and CSK will hope to get their season back on track when they face southern rivals RCB at the Dr DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday (April 12).