MS Dhoni stunned the world once again with his decision to step down as the Chennai Super Kings captain two days prior to the opening game of IPL 2022. Ravindra Jadeja, the all-rounder who has been with CSK since 2012, has been given the baton by the Ranchi-born.
CSK kick-off their title defence on Saturday against KKR at the Wankhede. Dhoni, who marched CSK to their fourth IPL title last year in the UAE, has led CSK in all the IPL years but two, when CSK were banned for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. They have reached the playoffs/semifinals in 11 of their 12 seasons, and the final 9 times – both a record in the IPL.
As soon the Super Kings social media handles announced this news, it was all pandemonium on social media with fans expressing their shock over this call by the former India captain. Slowly as fans started to grasp the situation, tributes began pouring out from all corners for arguably the greatest white-ball captain the world has seen.
Among many, one renowned Australian journalist, Chloe-Amanda Bailey, who has a massive following of over 135,000 on Twitter, expressed her surprise, penning down a heartfelt note for the outgoing CSK skipper.
Bailey expressed hurt on realizing that Dhoni is in the final stage of his cricketing career, having given everyone so much happiness over the past decade-and-half.
“Man I was literally thinking today how cool it is we still get to see MS Dhoni slay as CSK skip! The captaincy is in safe hands with Jadeja. But it hurts my heart a little knowing Mahi is in the winding down phase of his career. He’s given the game so much & gives us so much joy!” Chloe-Amanda Bailey tweeted.
Here’s Bailey’s tweet:
Man I was literally thinking today how cool it is we still get to see MS Dhoni slay as CSK skip! The captaincy is in safe hands with Jadeja. But it hurts my heart a little knowing Mahi is in the winding down phase of his career. He’s given the game so much & gives us so much joy!
— Chloe-Amanda Bailey (@ChloeAmandaB) March 24, 2022
Although this was expected to be the last IPL season for the 40-year-old Dhoni, his decision to relinquish his captaincy despite leading the side to the title last year wasn’t foreseen at all.
However, considering Dhoni’s diminishing returns with the bat and his fitness at age of 40, he wouldn’t have been able to play in all the games, and hence he himself decided to hand over the reins to Jadeja, the 33-year-old who is currently in the form of his life.
