– Vaibhav Tripathi
In recent days, rumours have circulated about a potential rift between MS Dhoni, the captain of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and Ravindra Jadeja, the team’s star all-rounder. This speculation arose after a video of an intense conversation between Dhoni and Jadeja went viral on social media. Although the nature of their discussion remains undisclosed, it occurred following CSK’s 77-run victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) on May 20.
Following his exceptional performance in the Qualifier 1 against Gujarat Titans, Jadeja shared cryptic messages on his social-media accounts, including posts with captions like ‘Karma’ and ‘Upstox knows but..some fans don’t,’ after being recognized as the most valuable player of the game.
After that match, Kasi Viswanathan, the CSK CEO, was spotted engaged in a conversation with Jadeja, seemingly explaining something to him. This intensified speculation about a rift with the franchise. It should be remembered too that CSK pulled the plug on the ill-fated Jadeja captaincy experiment midway through the 2022 season, and gave the reins back to Dhoni.
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However, amid such swirling rumours of discord in the build-up to CSK’s tenth IPL final, a source close to the franchise dismissed the claims. According to the source, there was no truth to any stories of a disconnect between Jadeja and CSK. “Everything is fine between MS (Dhoni) and him (Ravindra Jadeja),” they told RevSportz. “Jadeja continues to be an integral part of our setup.”
Whatever be the truth of the matter, Jadeja’s 19 wickets an a miserly economy rate of 7.41, and his 175 runs, have played a huge part in CSK’s run to the final. Differences or not, both he and Dhoni are far too experienced and mature as cricketers to take their eyes off the ball.