Ravindra Jadeja has been a major part of the Chennai Super Kings right since he joined the franchise way back in 2012. The all-around maestro with his magical contributions both with the bat and ball has been handy for his side on uncountable occasions so far and thus has been a key player in winning his side 4 IPL titles since his arrival into the team. The team’s major pillars including M.S Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja and others who had evolved into the yellow jersey over the years had almost made the tournament their own having qualified for the playoffs every time until missing out on a top 4 spot in 2020 season.
In all the success that his team had achieved back in its glory days, it was a certain Ravindra Jadeja who had a very crucial role to play in helping his side finish on top. The all rounder’s abilities to finish off a game with incredible big hits and even help his team break an opposition partnership has been insanely good to watch over the years. Considering all of these magical moments from the all-rounder it’s no doubt that he’s been one of the most influential players for the side in the history of the tournament so far.
Watching such a wonderful rise of the all-rounder with each passing season it was certain that he had a very bright future ahead of him. Hence once the regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to step down from captaincy besides announcing the 2022 season of IPL to be his last, it was certain that Ravindra Jadeja would take up his place. All the wonderfully important contributions that he had made to the team’s success in the past made the management believe in him.
It was expected that the all-rounder would only be getting better with the added but of responsibility on his shoulders this season and take the team to greater heights. However, speaking as of now things haven’t been sweet at all for a newly appointed captain Ravindra Jadeja and his side the yellow army has managed to win only 2 of its 8 matches till now and is almost out of the race to playoffs this season. The skipper has pretty clearly seemed to be under pressure and crumbled during several stiff situations during the matches so far.
All of his magical spark which he used to display both with the bat and the ball during the impossible situations with the bat and the ball earlier has seemed to disappear this season. He has been a total shadow of his former last in terms of the batting performances in particular as he’s not managed to replicate those finishing touches anymore this season for his side in any of the games. His low strike rate while batting in the death overs and inability to dig out the Yorkers for big shots has been shockingly bad to watch. His batting stats so far this season are.
Matches Runs Average Strike Rate Highest
8 112 22.4 121.74 26*
Ravindra Jadeja the bowler to has been highly unimpressive this season as he’s lost that sheer ability to dominate the opposition batting all by himself in the middle overs. Gone are the days when he used to choke the runs and pick wickets for fun helping his team come out of whole on several occasions. The fact that he has been hit for runs and not been picking wickets on regular intervals like before clearly indicates the downfall in the standards. His failure to deliver with the ball in the crunch moments of the match proves the fact that the “Vintage Jadeja” is long gone and he is nowhere nearer to his best at the moment.
He’s not bowling the crucial overs thereby helping his side win games from tough situations has hurt his team considerably as they’ve failed to defend totals and even conceded a lot of runs while bowling first. The bowling department of the side which seemed to be one of their strong points until the previous season now looks really slim with the skipper having lost his rhythm totally midway between the season. His bowling stats so far this season are:-
Matches Wickets Strike Rate Economy Best Bowling
8 5 31.20 8.19 3/39
To everyone’s surprise, his most impressive aspect on the pitch which was his superb fielding efforts to has seen an immense downfall as he’s failed to hold on to several important catches and et go off various other chances on the pitch. All of these mistakes have cost his side several important phases of the game which has resulted in losses time and time again. The player who used to contribute to his team’s success in some way or the other until last season now seems to be an average player who’s just occupying a position in the team for no reason.
The extra burden of the captaincy responsibilities over his shoulders impacting him negatively is clearly indicated by the fact that he’s failed to manage his team and take proper decisions during sever crucial phases of the game thereby letting the opposition run away with the match. It’s pretty much certain that the extra responsibilities that had been entrusted to the 33 year old thinking him to be able enough to cope with all the tough situations haven’t rendered any positive results for the team.
Instead, it has ended up kind of disrupting the earlier fantastic version of Ravindra Jadeja who used to be a wholehearted player doing wonders on the pitch at every moment, always ready to give his 100%. It remains to be seen if the Chennai skipper still manages to initiate any unbelievable kind of turnaround hereon and take his team to the playoffs thereby proving all his haters wrong.
