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'When Dhoni does play... who really is the leader on the field?': Former CSK star has his say on captaincy transition
MS Dhoni led Chennai to 116 wins in 190 IPL matches and two Champions League T20 titles in 2010 and 2014, before the tournament was stopped.
Twelve seasons, four title triumphs and five runner-up finishes later, MS Dhoni on Thursday ended his illustrious captaincy spell with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to hand over the responsibility to Ravindra Jadeja ahead of the new IPL season, beginning March 26. The IPL will never look the same without two prominent faces -- Dhoni and Virat Kohli -- in leadership roles. Kohli too has stepped down from Royal Challengers Bangalore captaincy to manage his workload.
Dhoni's exit as the captain left his fans in shock and former Chennai Super Kings player Shane Watson was also "blown away" by the news. The franchise has wicketkeeper alternatives in Devon Conway and Ambati Rayudu if Dhoni decides to not play every game this year. But Watson is eager to see if the talismanic skipper takes a backseat in crunch situations and lets Jadeja do the work.
"It's going to be interesting to see how that dynamic goes when MS does play...who really is the leader on the field? Whether Dhoni just sort of takes over and under pressure, more so than anything. He just sort of goes...'You know what, let me just take over for a little bit while I redirect the ship' or whether he does just sit back and Jadeja is confident enough to just take the reins and go, 'Okay well, this is my team and I'm going to do it the way I want and learn from my mistakes'," Watson said on The Grade Cricketer on Youtube.
"So, it's going to be really interesting to see how it plays out and see whether there's any openings there for the opposition to speak while they're working through that dynamic," he added.
Watson also underlined Dhoni's astute tactics and judgement while leading, and further spoke about the Indian's approach towards maintaining the team atmosphere. Dhoni led Chennai to 116 wins in 190 IPL matches and two Champions League T20 titles in 2010 and 2014, before the tournament was stopped.
"For me, it was very surprising for sure. With MS, you have to certainly always trust his judgement and why he sort of does things for sure because he cares about people and he cares about the team environment and cares for people around him," said Watson.
It remains to be seen whether Dhoni features in all games this season, especially after his departure from captaincy has fuelled speculation over his IPL future.
Defending champions CSK start their IPL 2022 campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders in the tournament opener on March 26 in Mumbai. The 15th edition of the tournament has been expanded to 10 teams but league games will be restricted to four venues in Mumbai and Pune with limited crowds.
