‘I’ve played under him and MS Dhoni': Star all-rounder backs Jadeja, says ‘leading CSK was tough for him this year’

Ravindra Jadeja's stint as captain was not as successful as his fans would have expected and with CSK struggling to get results on the board, forcing the franchise to reinstate the position to MS Dhoni midway in the season.

England and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) all-rounder Moeen Ali extended his support to Ravindra Jadeja, who was given the responsibility to lead the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise ahead of the 2022 season. However, Jadeja's stint as captain was not as successful as his fans would have expected and with CSK struggling to get results on the board, forcing the franchise to reinstate the position to MS Dhoni midway in the season.

CSK captain MS Dhoni and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (IPLt20.com/File)

The weight of captaincy affected Jadeja's game and in a total of 10 appearances the star all-rounder could only manage 116 runs. With the bowl he was equally ineffective, scalping five wickets at an economy of 7.51. What was even worse was Jadeja dropping simple catches. In the match against Mumbai Indians, the Saurashtra all-rounder dropped two sitters, a rare sight indeed.

Moeen feels that has very little to do with Jadeja's captaincy, claiming he is infact quite similar to Dhoni.

Sharing his views on the subject, Moeen during an interaction with Sports Today noted: "He’s inexperienced in terms of captaincy and leading CSK was tough for him this year because we weren’t playing well as a team. But he has got a good brain and he potentially could be a good leader in the future."

Chennai, who had emerged as the winners in the 2021 edition, failed to replicate a similar show in the following edition. The four-time IPL winners could only secure four wins in their campaign and finished second last on the ten-team points table.

Drawing comparisons between Dhoni and Jadeja, the England cricketer said: "I have played under him. I have played under MS Dhoni as well. There is not much difference between both of them in terms of the characteristics - very calm, very loyal to their players. Brilliant captain, brilliant player."

Dhoni captained Chennai to their fourth IPL trophy in 2021, with both Moeen Ali and Jadeja playing significant role in the title run.

Meanwhile, Moeen had recently announced his plans to return to Test cricket, hopefully with the series against Pakistan.

The experienced England international will be seen in action in the white-ball matches against India, which will be played after the rescheduled 5th Test, set to begin from July 1.