Former Pakistani cricketer Danish Kaneria on Sunday (27th March) said that MS Dhoni did the right thing to hand CSK’s captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja. He believes that the wicketkeeper batter wants to groom the all-rounder as a future leader of Team India.
After leading CSK for a long time, Dhoni on Thursday (March 24) stepped down as the skipper of the team and passed on the leadership baton to Ravindra Jadeja. It came as a surprise for many as he relinquished captaincy just a couple of days ahead of the ongoing IPL season.
Many were in favour of Dhoni’s decision as they lauded him for thinking about the franchise’s future. They felt that the keeper-batter will guide Jadeja for the team’s betterment in the next 4-5 years.
Speaking to IANS, Danish Kaneria said that MS Dhoni’s decision to hand the captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja was taken, keeping the future of the Indian team in mind.
He noted that captaining in all three formats is a pressure job and Indian management will look for split captaincy at some stage. And in that case, Jadeja, who is an all-format player, is the best candidate to captain the side.
"So I think giving the captaincy to Jadeja is a far-reaching decision. Look, the Indian team is a balanced one and captaining it in all formats is not an easy task. Virat Kohli was very good, but he has left captaincy. Now Rohit Sharma has to lead in all three formats. Whether one accepts this or not, captaining India in all formats of the game is a pressure job.
"Today or tomorrow, India will have to think about split captaincy. Otherwise Rohit will be under pressure, and it's bound to happen. If we talk about the formation of the Indian team, only few players are sure of their place in the team and Jadeja is one of them. In such a situation, I think Dhoni's decision has been taken keeping the future in mind," Danish Kaneria said.
When asked which is his favourite IPL team, Kaneria said that although there are no favourites in T20 formats, CSK and MI have the best combination in the league. He talked about the league’s drastic rise in ranks and highlighted that South African players leaving the national side for the tournament depict how big IPL is.
"There are no favourites in the T20 format. But if we talk about the combination, Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians are good. There are two new teams in this edition, and you cannot take them lightly. IPL is a tournament in which all the cricketers want to play. You see, many players from South Africa took leave from their national side to play in the IPL. So this is turning out to be a big event every single year,” he said.
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Comparing IPL with PSL, Danish Kaneria said that the Indian tournament is a professional event and provides many talents to the nation. On the other hand, the Pakistan-based tournament hardly does anything for the national side.
"Being a very professional event, IPL is providing so many talents to Indian cricket. And it's getting better and better with each passing season, while PSL (Pakistan Super League) is hardly doing anything for Pakistan cricket. If some player performs well in PSL, the unprofessional approach of Pakistan Cricket Board mars his chances of getting into the national side," he said.
Notably, Ravindra Jadeja’s stint as the CSK skipper started with a 6-wicket loss against KKR. On the other hand, Dhoni led CSK to title victories in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021. He captained the franchise in 204 IPL games and won 121 out of them with a 59.60% win record. He also led them to two Champions League titles.
(IANS inputs)
