Reacting to Ravindra Jadeja's absence for the final three matches of Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2022 due to an injury, captain MS Dhoni said it is hard to replace someone like Jadeja as he allows the team management to play different combinations based on situations. Jadeja was ruled out of the remainder of this IPL with a rib injury. CSK made the official announcement on Wednesday.
"If you see somebody like Jaddu, the kind of potential he has. It's not about a player. Certain players allow playing certain compositions. You can work around the combination depending on the situation. He's someone who helps us try different combinations. Not to forget his fielding. I don't think there is anybody who can replace him," Dhoni said at the toss in CSK's match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
Jadeja was appointed the CSK skipper ahead of the start of the 15th season of the cash-rich league but he decided to hand it back to Dhoni after the yellow brigade lost six out of 8 matches under his leadership.
Jadeja's form with the bat and ball wasn't great either. The star all-rounder scored only 116 runs and picked up 5 wickets in the 10 matches that he played.
CSK meanwhile were knocked out of IPL 2022 after they lost to Mumbai Indians by 5 wickets. Batting first, CSK was bowled out for a paltry 97. Daniel Sams and Jasprit Bumrah ran through the CSK top-order as the latter lost 5 wickets in the powerplay.
The defending champions could never recover from the early blows and were bowled out for 97 in 16 overs. Dhoni played a lone hand of 36 not out in a sorry-looking CSK batting line-up.
In reply, Mumbai Indians huffed and puffed their way to the 98-run target. They were at one stage tottering at 33 for 4 but an unbeaten knock from Tilak Varma and useful contributions from Hirthiik Shokeen and Tim David saw them home.
"There has to be a question mark on Jadeja's position in Chennai in the future. If he has had a bit of fallout because of the captaincy, whether he is injured, we'll have to wait and see what that is. But it might be coming to an end... Jadeja at Chennai. A change might be good for both the player and franchise," Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.
CSK announced that Jadeja was ruled out of the remainder of IPL due to a rib injury. "Ravindra Jadeja reported a bruised rib and was unavailable for Chennai Super Kings' game against Delhi Capitals on Sunday," the defending champions said in a statement.
"He was under observation and based on medical advice he has been ruled out for the rest of the IPL season."
"I don't know about his injury. Don't know how much he has been affected by the captaincy. I'm not too sure how much he's been affected by bubble life. You got to remember that these players are in a bubble and for some players, it's just driving them mad. They just can't cope with the bubble, being restricted," he added.
Jadeja had a tumultuous IPL 2022. It marked a new beginning in his career as he was named the new CSK captain at the start of the 15th edition but things started to go southwards as soon as the tournament progressed. The pressure of captaincy started to take a toll on his performance as a player. Jadeja scored only 116 runs and took 5 wickets in the 10 matches that he played.
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