Ravindra Jadeja speaks about captaincy pressure

Chennai have been struggling in the Indian T20 league 2022 so far. As they have lost their first three games, the defending champions are yet to win a match in this edition. They recently lost to Punjab in an underwhelming manner.

It is to be noted that MS Dhoni had handed over the captaincy duties to Ravindra Jadeja barely a few days before the commencement of the tournament. However, the all-rounder hasn't had an ideal start to his captaincy stint. Several pundits and experts have gone on to criticize his calls, and feel that there are a lot of loopholes in his leadership, as well as in the team.

After losing to the Mayank Agarwal-led side by 54 runs, Jadeja stated that he was ready to lead Chennai, and didn't have any sort of pressure. During the post-match presentation, he stated that Dhoni had asked him to be mentally prepared earlier itself. He also said that he doesn't really have the captaincy pressure, and also mentioned that the keeper-batter does give his inputs.

“I have been preparing since Dhoni bhai told me a few months ago for captaincy. Mentally I was ready to lead and I don’t have pressure. Dhoni Bhai does give his inputs, we are lucky to have him.

I am only following my instinct. I was preparing for that. Mentally, I was prepared to lead, I don’t have any pressure on me. I was looking to back my instincts; I was thinking to go with whatever thoughts come into my mind,” said Ravindra Jadeja.

In the meanwhile, he also spoke about Ruturaj Gaikwad, who hasn't really fired in the 2022 edition so far. The Orange Cap winner of the 2022 edition has only been able to score 2 runs in the first three games of this season. Yet, Jadeja stated that they will be backing him. He said that they aren't putting pressure on him. Chennai are scheduled to face Hyderabad on April 9 at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai.

“We are not putting too much pressure on Ruturaj Gaikwad. We are just giving him his time. Whatever preparation he has been doing, we back him, and we always talk to him and keep him in a good frame of mind,” he added.