IPL 2022 | ‘Not concerned with Jadeja’s form’- Stephen Fleming

Just before the start of the IPL 2022 season, Ravindra Jadeja was named the new Chennai Super Kings skipper. A lot was expected of him, but the new skipper crumbled under pressure and has struggled in all three departments of the game. In the middle of the tournament, he decided to resign as captain to focus more on his batting and bowling and had requested MS Dhoni to take over as captain.

In the last match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Jadeja batted at 6 and managed to score only 3 runs off 5 balls. Harshal Patel dismissed the left-handed batsman in the 16th over while he was trying to hit into the stands. Chennai Super Kings eventually lost the match by 13 runs and have been virtually eliminated in the process.

After the match, Chennai Super Kings Head Coach Stephen Fleming said that he is not concerned with Ravindra Jadeja's form and that the team will evaluate which batting position suits the all-rounder.

"I am not concerned, the T20 game can be tough. When you are batting at No. 5 or No. 6, you don’t get a lot of time to get the tempo or rhythm right. We will look at it now and work out what the best order will be going forward, but no I am not concerned about his form,” Fleming said in a virtual press conference.

In IPL 2022, Ravindra Jadeja has scored just 116 runs in 10 innings, with a high score of 26, an average of 19.33, and a strike rate of 118.37. With the ball, Jadeja has grabbed just 5 wickets in 10 innings, averaging 49.6 and with an economy of 7.52.

"I think we have been off in all departments really. We are not far away, in lot of games you can say we were really close in winning them. We had the games taken away or we were not good enough to get across the line. But that's usually the story of the competition if you are just off. All three departments have been below par," Fleming said.

With only three wins in ten matches, the defending champions have had a torrid time in the tournament and have struggled to replicate the form they showed last season.