Just two days ahead of Chennai’s opening game against Kolkata, MS Dhoni decided to quit the captaincy. The decision surprised the fans a long way, although Dhoni has a history of throwing surprises. In December 2014, Dhoni decided to quit Test cricket and handed over the reins to Virat Kohli unexpectedly. In January 2017, the Ranchi-born player decided to quit T20I and ODI captaincy.
The former India skipper led the team in 205 games, which is a record in itself. Out of those, the team has won 121 and lost 82. He also led the team to four ITL titles in 2010, 2011, 2018, and 2021. This year, the team will enter the tournament as defending champions. The 40-year-old handed over the reins to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who has never led a team before.
The all-rounder has been part of the team since 2012. Since then, he has played 173 games for the franchise, taking 121 wickets and scoring more than 2000 runs for the Yellow Brigade. This will be the first time the Baroda all-rounder will lead a team in any form of the game. Meanwhile, the cricket fraternity was taken aback by the decision but came together to congratulate MSD for a successful captaincy career.
This is how Twitter reacted
We use the expression “end of an era” very loosely sometimes. But Dhoni giving up the captaincy of @ChennaiIPL is truly the end of an era for all those loyal fans with whom he forged a relationship of the kind very few have.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 24, 2022
Congratulations on a legendary tenure as captain of CSK, @msdhoni! 🙌🏻
Can’t wait to see this bromance on the field soon. 🤜🏻🤛🏻#PlayBold #RCB #WeAreChallengers #IPL2022 #MSDhoni pic.twitter.com/XbH6ir91C8
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) March 24, 2022
From 7️⃣ to 8️⃣ and from 🧊 to 🔥
Congratulations on a stellar captaincy stint to MS Dhoni and all the best to Jadeja 🤺#IPL2022 @imjadeja pic.twitter.com/NR5LrkYvXy
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) March 24, 2022
Timing has always been the key for MS. Well done on your leadership and mind blowing results over the years for CSK. Would like to see him finish on a high.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 24, 2022
#MSDhoni quits as captain never in a million years did i think it was possible! What a leader @msdhoni has been and what a legacy he leaves for @imjadeja to carry the baton of the best team in the Ipl by a mile @ChennaiIPL!
— Kris Srikkanth (@KrisSrikkanth) March 24, 2022
It’s a very Dhoni-like decision to hand over the @ChennaiIPL captaincy to @imjadeja like this. Truly the end of an era! Question is, how can you be a ‘non playing captain’, if you’re no longer captain?
Does Dhoni get picked solely on his keeping? #IPL2022 🇮🇳🏏 pic.twitter.com/kUDjWhzctU
— Nikesh Rughani (@NikeshRughani) March 24, 2022
What do you make of @msdhoni’s decision to hand over CSK captaincy to @imjadeja? I think it’s the correct move. Dhoni has nothing left to prove, Jadeja has more years in the game and gets a season where he can lean on his senior for advice
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) March 24, 2022
Let’s enjoy those Dhoni moments for one last time, a quick stumping, blinder of a catch, shrewd DRS call, a helicopter shot. And possibly Jadeja hands back captaincy in MSD’s last match, like he did for Ganguly. #Dhoni #ChennaiSuperKings #RavindraJadeja #IPL2022 #CricketTwitter
— Unnikrishnan (@unni1974) March 24, 2022