Every sporting event anywhere in the world always has up and downs, collectively and individually, and the Indian Premier League is no different. The 2022 edition has been an absolute nightmare for some franchises collectively and individual players too are finding it difficult to come to terms with the vagaries of form and fortune.
Among them is Ravindra Jadeja, a player who on his own has changed many a match, both for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and India. But IPL 2022 continues to be a nightmare without any end, ranging from his taking up the CSK captaincy, to it being taken away, along with a slew of mediocre scores. This is not a happy time for the CSK star.
Ravindra Jadeja dropped the catch of Mahipal Lomror during RCB vs CSK match. Sportzpics
Over the past IPL editions, Jadeja has been an integral part of CSK’s success, but his none-too-happy outing this year has also reflected in the team’s fortunes. That is not to say that the rest have set the stage on fire, but some players are definitely having a better time than the left-hander, with bat and ball.
Jadeja was pretty much handed down the captaincy when MS Dhoni suddenly decided that he wouldn’t be leading the side any more. Not sure if the new captain took up the role with any anticipation, since he is a natural who doesn’t need to be shackled down with responsibilities.
Read: MS Dhoni says CSK captaincy ‘affected’ Ravindra Jadeja’s mind, ‘burdened his performances’
The results were immediate. CSK lost the first four games and, along with Mumbai Indians, were scraping at the bottom of the heap. Their philosophy of going for the older players was not bearing fruit and ironically, most of the performances, whatever little there were, were coming from the younger lot.
Jadeja naturally was not in a happy place. More so when there was criticism galore that Dhoni was still calling the shots on the field and the captain was not at the helm of things.
It began to show. Jadeja floundered with the bat and even his bowling was affected by this additional pressure. Even his fielding, something of a folklore in Indian cricket, was beginning to crack as he floored two sitters in one match.
As IPL 2022 approaches the time of reckoning, CSK are beginning to fade away, irrespective of the fact that the captaincy was handed back to Dhoni. Post that, they began with a bang, with a big win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), thanks to Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway.
Thereafter, it was back to the bad days, as CSK went down to Royal Challengers Bangalore and now look like being on their way out of IPL 2022.
Jadeja’s performance here was symptomatic of his overall showing. He scored three runs off five balls before an extravagant attempt resulted in a steepling catch, well held by Virat Kohli.
With the ball too, while the left-arm spinner was restrictive, going at just five runs an over, the wickets seem to have evaporated.
Overall, with the bat, Jadeja has scored 116 runs from 10 matches, with a poor average of 19.33 and a top score of 26 not out. His strike rate too has been average, at 118.36.
As for his bowling, he has five wickets from 10 games at the cost of 248 runs. His economy is 7.51 and strike rate stands at 39.60.
Certainly not a great place to be, given that many spinners, including some left-armers, are doing quite well for their franchises.
One wonders if it was a good idea to make Jadeja captain of CSK in the first place, and that too at such short notice. One understands being part of the process and going along with what the team management decides, but this is not really his role.
Jadeja is an independent, natural cricketer who needs to have his mental peace and focus in place to ply his trade. He is at his best when left to do his thing and he does thrive in that.
But then, in came captaincy and out went the natural, free-flowing Jadeja that we knew. The weight was just too much to handle.
Losing the job wasn’t that much of a boost either. It is not nice to be publicly set aside, evidently because the results are not good. One wonders why the rest of the coaching staff stays in such a situation while Jadeja gets side-lined from the job he most likely didn’t take up with any great anticipation anyway.
Things are bleak indeed for CSK, at least for this year. What the future brings, one has to see, but there were many wrong decisions in this season and even the repair job was ragged. Ravindra Jadeja is simply a reflection of that botched-up misadventure.
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