In yet another nail-biting finish to an encounter at the 2022 Indian Premier League, the Lucknow Super Giants held their nerves to secure a six-wicket win over Ravindra Jadeja's Chennai Super Kings in Mumbai. With the win, the Super Giants not only opened their account in the season but also registered their first-ever victory in the tournament since the franchise was introduced ahead of the new season. Defending champions Chennai, meanwhile, are still searching for their first win of the edition under newly-appointed captain Jadeja.
Also read: Watch: For first time in IPL career, MS Dhoni hits monstrous first-ball six with unbelievable shot
During the game against Lucknow, Chennai put on a mammoth score of 210/7 in 20 overs. However, the LSG, riding on Evin Lewis' quickfire 55* off just 23 deliveries, registered a six-wicket win with three balls to spare. CSK's decision to hand over the ball to Shivam Dube in the 19th over of the innings proved costly for the side, as the all-rounder conceded 25 runs in the over.
Following the game, former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja -- in his post-match analysis – insisted that he felt MS Dhoni was taking the leadership decisions in the game instead of Ravindra Jadeja. When asked if it was indeed the case, the former Indian cricketer said it was “wrong” for Dhoni to take over the reins from Jadeja in the game.
“It is wrong, there is no doubt about that. See, there is no bigger fan of Dhoni than I am, 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..” Jadeja voiced his opinion on Cricbuzz.
{{/usCountry}}“It is wrong, there is no doubt about that. See, there is no bigger fan of Dhoni than I am, 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..” Jadeja voiced his opinion on Cricbuzz.
{{/usCountry}}“See, 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. See, Dhoni is a very big player and I don't like saying it out loud. But I didn't like what I saw today.”
Further talking about the moment, the former Indian cricketer believes it might have dragged Jadeja back in terms of his confidence.
“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,” said Ajay Jadeja.
“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.”