Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming said Saturday that Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s cessation of captaining the IPL team this year was not a sudden decision as it was “talked about” last season.
MS Dhoni wanted to give Jadeja a clean list of captains: CSK coach Stephen Fleming (Courtesy BCCI/PTI Photo)
HIGHLIGHTS
- CSK couldn’t assess the conditions well at the start of the IPL 2022: Fleming
- MS Dhoni wanted to give Jadeja a clean list of captains: Fleming
- CSK lost to KKR in the opener of the 2022 IPL by 6 wickets
Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming revealed MS Dhoni had told him about handing over the captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja after winning the title last season. However, Fleming said the timing of the retirement of the CSK captain was left to Dhoni.
“We talked about it. It’s something MS talked to me about last season. The timing was his call though,” Fleming said at the virtual post-match press conference after CSK lost by six wickets to Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL in the opening tournament.
After twelve seasons, four title triumphs and five second places later, the legendary Dhoni decided on Thursday to hand over the captaincy of CSK to his trusted lieutenant Ravindra Jadeja.
Highlights of CSK vs KKR, IPL 2022 | report
In a brief statement, CSK had said the 40-year-old will continue to represent the franchise for the “season and beyond” after managing one of the most successful IPL sides since the tournament began in 2008 – excluding the two seasons when the team was suspended in the wake of the spot fixing scandal.
Fleming said the transition from Dhoni to Jadeja went well.
“It has been widely documented that Jadeja has a clean slate in the series (IPL). It was communicated (to Mr Srinivasan) by the team,” said the former Kiwi captain.
“So, we’ve talked about it 100 percent. It was a bit of a transition here, it was a bit of a change, but it went through well.”
Fleming said the team was nervous and just couldn’t assess the conditions well.
“What you found today was a team that started the tournament a little nervously. We didn’t judge the conditions well, it can be a bit tricky here and we were really close behind the back ball. But that’s what happened last year so well, and we have a good catalyst for us to move forward.
“The conditions were pretty tough, it was very wet in the second half. Assessing the conditions in the first part of the tournament will be a key aspect,” added Fleming.
CSK will now take on freshman Lucknow Super Giants on March 31 (Thursday) at Brabourne Stadium.
