MS Dhoni is relinquishing his obligations one by one, like a man reaching the vanaprastham. He resigned down as captain of the Chennai Super Kings seven years after quitting Test cricket and two years after forsaking the national colors forever.
He is still a player, a wicket-keeper batsman, by strict definition. Only that he will eternally be the leader of his faithful legions.
Dhoni will continue to represent Chennai Super Kings this season and beyond, according to a statement released by the CSK. “MS Dhoni has chosen Ravindra Jadeja to head the Chennai Super Kings after handing over the captaincy. Jadeja, who has been a key member of Chennai Super Kings since 2012, will be the team’s third captain. Dhoni will continue to play for Chennai Super Kings this season and beyond, according to a statement released by the team.
Dhoni, who has guided the squad to four victories, might be playing his final IPL season this year. Dhoni, who is 40 years old, has already left international cricket.
On Saturday, the reigning champions CSK will face the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the runners-up from the previous season, at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Jadeja last captained a cricket team on October 28, 2007, when he led Saurashtra Under-19 against Mumbai Under-19 at the Western Railway Ground in Rajkot in the Vinoo Mankad tournament.
Meanwhile, in the latest ICC Test rankings for all-rounders revealed on Wednesday, Jadeja recovered the top place from West Indies’ Jason Holder. After his 175 not out and nine wickets in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Mohali earlier this month, Jadeja had ascended to No. 1.
CSK Squad: MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja (Captain), Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayadu, Dwayne Bravo, Robin Uthappa, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitch Santner, Adam Milne, Subhranshu Senapati, Prashant Solanki, Mukesh Choudhary, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, Bhagath Varma.
