MS Dhoni CSK captain: Chances of CSK to qualify for playoffs 2022 under MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni CSK captain: The veteran wicket-keeper batter has been re-appointed as the skipper of the Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2022.

In what has come as another unexpected development from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) camp, at the midway stage of the ongoing IPL 2022 this time around, Ravindra Jadeja has decided to step down from the post of CSK skipper to focus entirely on his all-round game.

This decision meant that Jadeja had to request none other than MS Dhoni himself, to don the captaincy hat once again for the remaining part of IPL 2022.

“Ravindra Jadeja has decided to relinquish captaincy to focus and concentrate more on his game and has requested MS Dhoni to lead CSK,” CSK management stated in an official statement.

The decision comes at a time when the ‘Yellow Army’ are going through one of their worse seasons, having lost six matches out of eight so far to sit at the 9th spot in the points table at present.

As far as Jadeja’s personal form this season is concerned, the 33-year-old has managed to collect mere 112 runs across eight matches at a dismal average and strike rate of 22.40 and 121.73 respectively. Moreover, with the ball in hand, his five wickets at an average of 42.60 has done no good to the team either so far.

Jadeja had been handed the responsibility to lead the CSK after MS Dhoni had, just a couple of days before the start of the ongoing season, decided to step down from the captaincy post, in the larger interest of the team moving forward, and also perhaps due to his own individual diminishing prowess with the bat.

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MS Dhoni CSK captain: Can MS Dhoni lead CSK to the playoffs in IPL 2022?

While MS Dhoni has accepted Jadeja’s request to lead the four-time and defending champions yet again, it could have possibly come at least a couple of matches earlier, if at all it was really in the larger interest of the franchise.

The Super Kings’ chances to qualify for the Playoffs in IPL 2022 hangs by the thinnest of threads at the moment.

With six more league matches remaining for the franchise, wins in all of these matches would mean that they finish with 16 points, which might just be enough for them to qualify for the knock-out stage involving four teams.

Even if they lose one more match (and win the rest) from here on, they would not only have to depend on other teams’ results to go their way, but also expect their Net Run Rate (NRR) to be on the higher side to grab the fourth and the final spot.