'CSK captaincy affected Jadeja's mind'- MS Dhoni

In a dramatic turnaround, Ravindra Jadeja left CSK captaincy, stating that it affected his performance as a player. Yesterday, MS Dhoni confirmed the same in the post-match presentation. 

Addressing the broadcaster Star sports, Dhoni said that Jadeja was made aware of being chosen as the CSK skipper in the last season itself. However, the CSK skipper revealed that he supervised Jadeja's work only in the first couple of games. After that, the Indian all-rounder was given the licence to make his own calls and bear accountability for the same. 

The legendary keeper-batter believes that spoon-feeding doesn't help an individual grow as a captain, and therefore, Jadeja was given the freedom to make his own decisions.  

"I think Jadeja knew that he would be captaining this year. So for the first two games, I simply oversaw his work. After that, I insisted that he take his own decision and bear responsibility for them. Spoon-feeding doesn't really help the captain. You have to make those crucial decisions on the field and take responsibility for those decisions," Dhoni said. 

But as the tournament progressed, the job became tougher for Jadeja, and he started feeling the heat of being the captain of the side. As per Dhoni, the increased responsibility took a toll on the Indian all-rounder's individual performance and badly affected the team. He also clarified that CSK needs the services of Jadeja as an impactful all-rounder, and the team doesn't mind if that comes at the expense of his captaincy. 

"Once you become captain, it means a lot of demands come in. But it affected his mind as the tasks grew. I think captaincy burdened his prep and performances," Dhoni said. 

"Even if you relieve the captaincy and if you are at your best, and that's what we want. We were also losing a great fielder; we are struggling for a deep midwicket fielder," the former Indian captain added. 

In Dhoni's comeback game as the captain, the four-time champions CSK defeated SRH by a narrow margin of 13 runs. Talking about what worked for CSK in the match, Dhoni said that the CSK spinners were absolutely brilliant in the middle overs, and that played a significant role in the team's victory. 

Despite this emphatic win, CSK remain at the ninth position in the points table and will collide against RCB in their next encounter.